


In sickness and in health

by DanaEliza



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, Cancer, Hospitalization, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-05
Updated: 2013-12-06
Packaged: 2017-12-28 12:04:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 42,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/991793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanaEliza/pseuds/DanaEliza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasuke meets a very drunk Naruto at a party and with the way Naruto is rubbing up against him, he can't help it but take him home. But why is Naruto acting so needy and why is he so desperate to have fun this night?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Slowly reposting from fanfiction. This story does contain some sex scenes, but mostly it's about how Sasuke and Naruto's relationship develops during these hard times...

'Just let me have this bit of fun. Who knows when I actually have this much fun again? Maybe never.'

The redhead eyed his friend suspiciously, but let the subject go. He couldn't stop him anyway, so he might as well poor him another drink and let him get as drunk as possible. This didn't mean that the redhead wouldn't keep an eye on his friend, because who knows who might take advantage of him. He was already so vulnerable. No, the redhead certainly wasn't pleased with what his friend wanted right now.

...

Sasuke arrived alone at the party. The door was open for everyone to just walk in and join the crowd. Sasuke wasn't a fan of this many people in the same place, especially if it wasn't built to hold this many people. Unfortunately it was his friend's birthday and Neji would've killed him if Sasuke hadn't shown up.

The place was stamped with people and most of them Sasuke didn't even know. Not that he ever paid attention to others anyway. All of them were annoying anyway, so why even bother? The girls were always clinging on to him when he entered a place and the guys always stared at him as if he was evil itself. He couldn't help it that women liked him so much. He didn't even like them back. He would rather have those guys clinging on to him. No, scratch that. He doesn't want anyone clinging to him.

Finally he had found Neji, but he was surrounded by people as well. This was going to take such a long time before he could even talk to his friend. And the smug expression on Neji's didn't say anything good. He had a girl hanging on his arm, almost falling down at every little movement Neji made. She was completely wasted, her dark brown buns a total mess on her head. At least his friend was getting laid tonight.

Sasuke eventually decided to just get a drink instead of waiting for Neji to be done with the birthday wishes and whatever. He pushed the swinging door open and entered the kitchen. At least this room was almost empty. Only a couple kissing in the corner, but they weren't paying attention to him anyway. He opened the refrigerator and went for the coldest beer. The opener laid on the counter, so with a flip of his hand, he could finally drink his cold beer. Immediately he set it to his lips, downing half of the bottle. That was just what he needed.

The swinging door opened again, letting in some new people. A laugh filled the room, announcing a happy blonde entering the room. He almost fell to the floor, stumbling over his own feet. A redhead was keeping him up, grumbling something under his breath. Sasuke just watched it all happening. A perfectly sculpted eyebrow was raised at the scene. How could everyone be this drunk already? He hadn't arrived that late, right? Otherwise Neji still might murder him…

The blonde was still laughing as he walked over to the counter, right where Sasuke was standing. The raven was leaning against the counter, setting the bottle against his lips again. He took a sip, his dark eyes still focusing on the blonde. The way the boy was stumbling towards him didn't seem very good. And Sasuke had been right. The blonde stumbled right up against him and leaned over to grab one of the vodka bottles. It was as if the boy didn't even realize they were touching and as far as Sasuke was concerned, he didn't care about it either. The guy was drunk, so what good would it do him to push him away. With his luck he would push the blonde against the kitchen table and got the guy a broken arm or something. No, as long as that hand on his hips didn't move, then he was fine.

The redhead pulled the blonde away from Sasuke and finally the raven felt like relaxing again. He still watched the two smaller males, but now with curiosity. The redhead didn't seem very pleased with his friend, but said friend found everything hilarious. 'Naruto, let's just go home. You can barely stand,' the redhead said.

The blonde, named Naruto, stopped laughing, his face filling with anger. 'No, I am here to have fun and that is what I'm doing right now!' he called out resolute. The blue eyes searched through the room eventually landing on Sasuke who was still right beside them.

Before Sasuke could really react to anything, two tanned arms were wrapped around his neck and he was pulled down in a kiss. His dark eyes widened as he stared deeply into azure blue ones. Those were really beautiful captivating eyes and Sasuke felt like getting lost in them. His own eyes turned half lidded and he could feel his lips responding to the kiss. A pleased hum vibrated through his mouth, the blonde pushing the tip of his tongue through Sasuke's lips.

A smirk formed on the raven's lips, liking how bold Naruto was, but he didn't have long to enjoy this fact. Naruto was pulled away from his lips again and he heard some things fall to the floor. The blonde was sitting on the floor, leaning against a leg of the table, a bewildered look on his face. The redhead was staring up at Sasuke, glaring at him. Sasuke took another sip of his beer, really uncaring of what this boy thought of him. He did have some fierce looking hair.

'Didn't you see how drunk he is?' the redhead spat at Sasuke, making the raven raise an eyebrow. 'How could you just kiss him back like that? Do you really want to take a drunk guy home with you that will vomit all over your carpet?' So that was weird statement and Sasuke really didn't know how to respond to that. He glanced down at Naruto and could already envision him puking all over his bed and bathroom and well everything.

The beer bottle hit his lips again. His tongue slid over his lips to get the little drops of bitter liquid of it. 'He kissed me, so don't go accusing me of wanting to take him home. I don't think I really had much of a choice than kiss back with the way I was attacked.' Not entirely true, but Sasuke really didn't care. This was getting way too annoying to his taste.

The redhead opened his mouth to say something back, but Naruto pulled on his jeans to get his attention. 'Gaara, I told you I wanted to have fun. Stop being so overprotective,' he whined, leaning his head back against the table leg. The blue eyes closed and it seemed that the blonde was falling asleep.

Gaara sighed and then the soft green eyes looked back up at Sasuke. 'Can you help me get him to his feet?' he asked. Sasuke just shrugged and leaned down to pick up Naruto. Such a fun party taking care of some drunk dude. At least he got a nice kiss out of it, but it had been much too short to his taste. 'Thanks,' Gaara mumbled, letting Naruto lean on his shoulders. 'I will take him home now.'

And that was when Naruto started protesting again. 'No! I want to stay and have fun.' He ripped himself of Gaara's body and fell right into Sasuke's chest. Why was this all happening to him? He wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist just to keep him upright. Gaara sighed again, knowing this was a battle he wouldn't win.

Naruto seemed to be falling asleep again, his arms wrapping around Sasuke and leaning his head against the raven's chest. Naruto did feel nice against his body, but he wasn't sure how to respond to this, except laying a hand against the blonde's back. Gaara's and his eyes met and stared at each other for quite some time. 'Can I leave him with you for a moment? I really need to go to the bathroom and he's been keeping me away from it all night.' Sasuke didn't like this request, but felt him nod. Gaara was out the door before he could protest.

Now he had a drunken blonde in his arms and he was pretty sure Naruto was snoring right now. His dark eyes flickered to the kissing couple in the corner, them still being completely lost in each other. Wait, they weren't only kissing now… Okay, time to get out of here, because that moan didn't mean anything good. Sasuke shook Naruto by his shoulders, waking the blonde up again. 'Let's move. That couple is having sex,' he hissed at Naruto and the blonde curiously looked back.

A giggle erupted from the plump lips. Naruto looked back up at Sasuke, a sudden naughty gleam in the azure blue eyes. The tanned hands started unbuttoning Sasuke's shirt as he bit his lip, still staring up at the raven. Sasuke wasn't sure if he liked the hands all over him or if he rather just leave and go home right now. He had to admit that Naruto was pretty good looking. Actually, the blonde was rather beautiful. Still, he didn't want to be the second couple having sex in this room.

Sasuke started guiding Naruto out of the kitchen, which wasn't easy since Naruto was still stumbling over his own feet and trying to undress Sasuke at the same time. It was nice to be undressed, but not in the midst of a party with way too many people and the judging lavender eyes of his friend. It was his own fault that Sasuke hadn't reached him yet. Still he offered his friend an apologetic smile, pointing down at the drunk Naruto. The lavender eyes narrowed slightly and glanced away. That had been a weird reaction and Sasuke didn't really get it. He would need to talk to his friend about this later.

Gaara came stamping towards him, glaring at Sasuke. 'Why the hell did you take him out of kitchen and brought him to this chaotic place?' the redhead asked accusingly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Gaara. 'Maybe you haven't noticed your friend here trying to get me naked as quick as possible.' And while he was saying that, Naruto had suddenly leaned down to undo Sasuke's jeans. Quickly Sasuke pulled the blonde up by his hair. 'But he got like this when he noticed another couple having sex in the kitchen.'

'People are having sex in my kitchen?' Neji asked angrily, apparently overhearing the conversation. 'Oh, hell no!' he exclaimed, stalking towards the kitchen with a determined look on his face. The girl with the buns was still following him, so she was definitely staying around. Sasuke watched his friend leave, shrugging his shoulders. Well, he could go home now. He made his appearance.

A pair of hips was rubbed against Sasuke's and he could definitely feel something hard there. 'What's your name?' Naruto asked huskily. Shocked Sasuke stared down at the blonde who was still rubbing his hard on against Sasuke's leg. Never had anyone come on to him this needy and apparently Naruto didn't usually act like this according to the look Gaara had on his face.

'Uhh, Sasuke,' he eventually responded, still a bit confused. Sasuke shot a look at Gaara, hoping he could get him out of this situation. Sasuke couldn't deny that the rubbing hips were getting to him and the blonde was still really handsome. This shouldn't take too long or he actually might take Naruto home. It had been a while since he last had taken someone home.

Gaara shrugged his shoulders, really not knowing what to do about this. Naruto said he had wanted some fun, but Gaara had no idea he also meant this kind of fun. The redhead looked Sasuke up and down, deciding that Sasuke seem to be a good guy. He had been taking care of Naruto while he had been to the bathroom.

Suddenly a hand was rubbing on Sasuke's crotch, trying to get him hard and it was definitely working. Naruto pulled Sasuke into a kiss again and the raven greedily responded, his tongue sliding in Naruto's mouth. Yeah, he had definitely lost this fight, but he was only giving Naruto what he wanted.

He had no idea how long they had been standing there, just kissing and Naruto feeling him up as much as possible, but when he opened his eyes again, Gaara was gone. Apparently the redhead trusted him enough to leave him alone with the blonde. Well, Sasuke would definitely not oblige to that right now. He leaned down to whisper in Naruto's ear. 'Want to come home with me?'

'What do you think?' Naruto answered, a big smile on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Sasuke had practically carried Naruto towards his apartment, the blonde being very drunk still. And the wandering tanned hands didn't help either. Somewhere along the way Sasuke's shirt had come off and he had no idea where it was right now, but he was cold. He stabbed the key into the keyhole and opened the door, grumbling under his breath over the loss of his shirt. Naruto better be worth this, because a drunk guy didn't always make the best lay.

Naruto immediately smashed Sasuke against the wall, starting to ravish his naked skin. Hands lingered all over him, trying to feel everything. He had never seen any guy this desperate to touch him, but Sasuke definitely liked it. He fisted the blonde locks, keeping Naruto as close as possible. The other hand went to a nice round ass, grabbing it tightly. This made Naruto moan, biting down on his pale naked chest. Oh, Sasuke really started liking this guy. Didn't matter how drunk Naruto was, he was still so responsive.

It didn't take them long to get to Sasuke's bedroom, the raven guiding Naruto through the hallway, towards his bedroom door. Sasuke was getting more assertive along the way, ripping pieces of clothing off Naruto and discarding them all over the floor. Of course Naruto wouldn't be out done, fumbling with Sasuke's zipper and yanking his pants down together with Sasuke's boxers. They were really needy by this point and just needed to feel each other's soft bare bodies.

Sasuke pushed Naruto down on the bed. His black eyes hovered all over the tanned skin and how the muscles moved beneath it. Naruto really was a handsome guy and Sasuke was really glad he had decided to take the blonde home.

'Are you just gonna stare or are you actually going to touch me too?' Naruto said seductively, biting his bottom lip and pushing his hips up towards Sasuke.

Now Sasuke certainly couldn't hold back anymore. He crawled on top of Naruto, his lips immediately latching onto Naruto's and starting to ravish his mouth. His tongue swept through the blonde's mouth, making Naruto moan softly. Tanned hands were all over his back, leaving scratch marks where his nails dug into his skin. Their erections brushed against each other, the friction causing Naruto to moan again and when Sasuke brought his own hand down to lift up Naruto's leg, the blonde even started shivering.

The other pale hand went between their bodies and gave Naruto's cock a few rough strokes, loving the noises it caused Naruto to make. He wouldn't last long like this, that was for sure. He leaned away from Naruto, trying to reach his nightstand, but the blonde wasn't making this very easy on him. Plump lips were sucking harshly on his neck and tanned hands were caressing every bit of skin it could reach. It took every bit of concentration to actually reach the nightstand and open the drawer so he could reach the lube.

When blue eyes fell on the tube, Naruto moaned again, spreading his legs so Sasuke could reach easily. The sight of Naruto spread like that right below Sasuke was just so enticing. With a groan Sasuke started kissing Naruto again, not wanting to let go. Without looking he spread the lube over three fingers and got them between Naruto's tanned legs. He put the lube to the side, using his now free hand to lift Naruto's hips up a little. While his tongue wrestled with Naruto's, one finger slowly breached the walls. Naruto was tight and Sasuke loved it. This at least meant that Naruto didn't just go home with anyone he laid his eyes on. Sasuke didn't like the slutty ones.

Another finger slipped in, it needing a little more force than the first one. Naruto groaned a little uncomfortable, but immediately started kissing Sasuke again, as if nothing was wrong. According to Sasuke there was nothing wrong anyway. The two fingers started making scissoring motions, stretching Naruto as best as he could.

Then the final finger entered. Naruto broke the kiss, hissing through gritted teeth until the finger was fully inserted. This shocked Sasuke a bit. Naruto wasn't a virgin right? Because that would definitely make this a lot less fun. His black eyes focused on Naruto's facial expressions while he moved the fingers in and out of the puckered hole. It took some time, but eventually Naruto relaxed and the fingers easily went in and out. Slowly he pulled them out and then stared at Naruto, unsure if he should really continue.

'Naruto, are you sure you want to continue this?' he asked, concern lingering in his voice.

Blue eyes snapped up to his face, something like anger hidden in them. Two legs were wrapped around Sasuke's waist, pulling him as close to the tanned body as possible. 'I want to do this, you want to do this, so we are going to do this,' Naruto said determined, nodding his head at his own words.

Sasuke smirked, liking Naruto's reaction. A strong guy this was… Sasuke's hands went to Naruto's waist, lifting the blonde up a little. He lined up his erection with Naruto's prepared hole and slowly started pushing in. The first ring of muscles was the toughest, but when he got passed that it all went fairly easy. He didn't stop pushing until he was fully sheathed and then just enjoyed the feeling of the walls squeezing around him. This way he gave Naruto some time to get used to his size and he would get used to Naruto's tightness.

Naruto was breathing heavily and when Sasuke looked down at him again, he could see that the blue eyes were closed shut. It still worried him, but when Naruto's eyes opened again, the blonde actually smiled. 'This doesn't feel so bad as I first thought it would,' Naruto said softly. Carefully the blonde moved his hips a little, pulling a groan from Sasuke's mouth.

'And I didn't think it would actually feel this good,' Sasuke responded, gasping when Naruto clamped down his walls again. This made the blonde chuckle and actually got Naruto moving as well. He pulled himself off Sasuke's cock and then thrust back down again. He looked a bit uncomfortable at first, but the way Sasuke looked on top of him made him continue what he was doing.

Sasuke didn't like the pace anymore at some point, wanting to go faster. Gradually he took over the thrusting from Naruto, steadying the blonde on the bed. He pulled out much further than Naruto had done and then slammed back in. It was all to find a certain spot inside of Naruto that would make this experience a lot more pleasurable for the blonde. After a few more thrusts he had finally found it. The blue eyes snapped open and Naruto's back bucked up from the bed. A loud moan escaped those plump lips and it was just pure music to Sasuke's ears. He really started to like this beautiful blonde guy.

He picked up a pace, thrusting in and out of Naruto. Moans dripped of those luscious lips and Sasuke couldn't help but kiss him again, drinking up all those sounds. Arms coiled around his neck, pulling Sasuke closer to Naruto's body.

Naruto threw his head back in delight, the blue eyes closed shut. The walls clamped down around Sasuke's cock again and he couldn't keep the groans in anymore. With every thrust he groaned now, loving how Naruto felt snuggled around him. 'You feel so good,' he murmured, thrusting in especially hard. Naruto could only moan back in response, but Sasuke knew the blonde felt the same way. This just felt amazing. He had never felt this good while having sex with someone.

A tanned hand reached between their bodies and Naruto started stroking his cock in time with Sasuke's thrusts. This could only mean one thing. Naruto was about to come. With a smirk on his face he slammed hard into Naruto with every thrust. Long loud moans were now leaving Naruto's lips, signaling he was really close now. Sasuke roughly started kissing Naruto again right when the blonde was about to come and muffled all the loud noises Naruto made. Cum splattered all over their stomachs, but Sasuke didn't stop moving. He wasn't done yet, but now that those walls seriously kept clamping down, he could feel his own orgasm building.

One hand went up to Naruto's short blond hair, grabbing it tightly. The other grabbed onto Naruto's hip, digging his fingers into the soft skin. He would definitely leave bruises, but he didn't care at this point. He groaned loudly, his own release spilling inside of Naruto.

Sasuke stayed on top of Naruto for a while, trying to catch his breath. Somehow their eyes had met at some point and Sasuke couldn't stop staring into those deep blue eyes. There was something about this guy that Sasuke really liked, but he couldn't point it out. 'You are really beautiful,' he heard himself whisper and those blue eyes widened at him.

Naruto never reacted and suddenly the mood got very uncomfortable. Sasuke got himself off Naruto and laid down beside him. His black eyes were staring at the ceiling, thinking about where he had gone wrong. He probably shouldn't have said that since they didn't even really know each other, but he just didn't want this to be a one night thing.

The weight shifted on the bed and suddenly Sasuke saw Naruto getting of the bed. Was he really just leaving right after they had sex? He wouldn't even stay the night? Maybe he should offer. 'You can spend the night here if you want,' he murmured, making Naruto stop dressing himself again.

'I have an appointment really early in the morning tomorrow and I don't want to wake you up,' Naruto said back plainly, every emotion out of his voice. Suddenly the blonde seemed like a whole other person and Sasuke didn't get why.

The black eyes went to the bed sheets for a moment, thinking this through. He really wanted Naruto to spend the night here. 'That's okay. I need to get to work tomorrow morning. I can even drive you to your appointment if you want to. Where is it?' He didn't want to sound too desperate, so this would be a good excuse, right? He could even spend more time with Naruto if he drove him there.

Naruto sighed, turning towards Sasuke and looking deep into his eyes. 'I need to go to the hospital.'

Sasuke's eyes widened. 'Why?' he asked confused. 'Is someone sick?'

Naruto fumbled with his fingers for a moment, staring down at them. 'Yeah, I'm sick. I have cancer and as of tomorrow I'll be admitted to the hospital.'


	3. Chapter 3

A red light. Somehow they had come across many red lights. Lengthening their time together. Occasionally Sasuke looked to the side, watching Naruto's expressionless face. Apparently no one was taking him to the hospital at all and Sasuke didn't want him to go through all of this alone. Why wasn't his friend here? That guy named Gaara or something. Even if Sasuke was just a one night stand, he didn't want Naruto to go alone.

Naruto shifted a bit in his chair and Sasuke glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, sure the blonde was about to say something, anything. But it stayed silent and Sasuke sighed in defeat. He had hoped this wouldn't be so awkward.

His hand went up and put a stray lock of black hair behind his ear. Great, now he got fidgety as well. He had never cared about his hair before. He could already see the tall building and the huge parking lot right next to it. It was always so busy there. How many people could really be hurt or sick in this city?

Sasuke wasn't sure if he should just drop Naruto off at the front door or actually park the car and get him inside. He felt like he should come inside with Naruto. Black eyes glanced to the side again as he pulled up onto the parking lot. Would Naruto comment on it? The blue eyes narrowed a bit in confusion, but the blonde didn't say anything. He found a spot somewhere way in the back since the lot was pretty full. It would take them a few minutes before they were actually inside.

The car was turned off and Sasuke took his time gathering his stuff. He could feel Naruto's eyes burning on the side of his face, but he didn't dare look back. He turned to open the door and that was when Naruto spoke up. 'What are you doing?'

Sasuke was frozen in place, his hand still on the lever. 'Taking you to the hospital,' he murmured, trying to sound like he was only stating a fact and not how certain feelings might have gotten in the way. He still didn't turn, but he did sit back in his chair, glancing through the windshield. He could see cars driving by just outside of the parking lot.

'Well, you got me here, so why not let me get out and leave. As you said you were only taking me to the hospital. I can take it from here.' Sasuke then did look back at Naruto and was only met with an empty look on the blonde's face.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and shot Naruto a challenging look. 'Then who will meet you once you are inside. If you are in a hospital bed, who will arrange the rest?'

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke, really not pleased with the way he was spoken to. But he didn't have a good comeback. 'Fine, you can come in.' Quickly he threw the door open and slammed it closed, stalking towards the hospital. Sasuke had to get out fast and run to catch up with Naruto. Suddenly he was in such a hurry.

The doors slid open before them and Naruto just kept on walking, already knowing where he was headed. He got in the elevator and waited for Sasuke to step in, his foot impatiently tapping on the floor. He pressed a button and the elevator doors closed. Sasuke noted that they had to go up many floors and this meant a lot of stops along the way. Every floor they passed by someone had to either get in or get out. Eventually it got so crowded that Naruto's back was pressed against Sasuke's chest and he could feel a shiver run down his spine. He had really enjoyed last night and only the feeling of Sasuke's body brought the memories back. Maybe it wasn't so bad that Sasuke went up with him.

The elevator emptied again and eventually they got to their floor, only them getting out. Sasuke had no idea where to go from there, but Naruto saved him by taking his hand and guiding him through the long hallway. Somewhere along the way they stumbled upon a reception and a young nurse greeted them.

'Naruto, glad you finally made it. And I see you brought someone as well. Was about time you didn't come here alone anymore,' she said with a smile. She was now staring at Sasuke and he could see this gleam in her eye that meant nothing good.

The blonde rolled his eyes at the nurse. 'Sakura, stop staring at him. You are creeping him out. Anyway this is Sasuke. Sasuke, this is Sakura.' He pointed at both of them and reluctantly Sasuke shook the woman's hand. She was still staring at him and Naruto was right, it did creep him out.

A giggle erupted from her mouth as if to appear cute. A bit afraid Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand and held it tightly. Sakura then got the hint. The hottie wasn't straight… 'Okay, Naruto. Your room is all set. You'll share your room with one other person. He has been here for a while already and he is really nice, so I'm sure you two will get along. Just keep on walking. Your room number is 1307.' She handed him his blue hospital gown which was opened in the back. 'Get this on and the doctor will be with you shortly.' Sakura turned back to her papers, suddenly really busy with work.

With another roll of his eyes Naruto started pulling Sasuke towards his room. Sakura could be so desperate when it came to men. And Naruto really didn't like how she was ogling Sasuke. The raven was here for him, so why would he even be interested in her? Women could be so stupid.

He was pulling a bit too hard on Sasuke's hand, so eventually the raven needed to complain. 'Are you in a hurry to get to your room and get that ugly gown on?'

Naruto blinked up at him. 'Oh, sorry,' he said, rubbing the back of his head with his hand and a slight blush adorning his cheeks. 'I'm just a little nervous I guess.' He was lying. He wasn't even thinking about what was about to happen. He was just jealous of the way Sakura was looking at Sasuke, the guy that was just a one night stand which he couldn't get rid of.

Sasuke was unsure of how to respond back to that. Of course Naruto was nervous, but he didn't even really know what was going on. Okay, so he had cancer. What kind of cancer? Was it curable? Had it spread already? Maybe Sasuke was even a little nervous about it all. He just nodded in response, giving Naruto's hand a squeeze.

The room got closer and closer and Naruto got this feeling that he really didn't want to be here. He felt like running away now, because when he stepped into that room, it would all be so real. He would really be the cancer kid. Outside he could at least pretend he wasn't sick. Just when Sasuke was about to open the door, Naruto stopped him, the blue eyes widened a bit as he stared up at the raven. 'Will you kiss me one last time? I'm sure you won't want to kiss me once the chemo kicks in and you'll probably be gone by then as well, so I would really appreciate it.' A soft pink dusted his cheeks again and shyly he looked down, waiting for Sasuke to respond.

It was not a question Sasuke had expected and he knew he had been quiet for way too long. There was only one thing he could really do now as a response. So he slowly lifted Naruto's chin up, forcing Naruto to look him in the eye. His own eyes turned half lidded as he leaned down and captured Naruto's lips in a soft kiss. He could feel the lips responding to the kiss immediately, encouraging him to do more.

Teasingly his tongue slid over Naruto's bottom lip and as soon as the blonde opened his mouth, he plunged it in, deepening the kiss. He could feel a moan vibrating through his body. Naruto apparently really liked the kiss which made Sasuke smirk. He started massaging Naruto's tongue with his own and he then remembered how Naruto had caught his attention by actually kissing him. It had been all worth it. Then he kind of lost himself in the kiss, pressing Naruto against the wall, his hips flush against the blonde's. A hand slowly descended down to give Naruto's ass a squeeze and that was when a chuckle left the other.

'You do remember we are in a hallway of the hospital and a doctor could be showing up any minute, right?' Naruto said teasingly and only that made Sasuke really stop trying to kiss Naruto.

His dark eyes looked back into blue ones and he let the words settle in. 'Oh, right. Sorry,' he stammered, taking a step back to give Naruto some space.

Naruto smiled up at him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He pulled Sasuke in for another quick kiss. 'I'm kind of glad you are here with me now,' he said softly. He kept Sasuke close this time, not wanting him to step back. He was actually really really glad Sasuke was still here. It felt less lonely and somehow he really liked Sasuke's company.

Sasuke wanted to say something back, but he wasn't sure how to start this. He just kept staring into those bright blue eyes. Sasuke just wasn't good with words. He never really knew what to say in moments like this and most of the times when he did say something, he would only hurt others. Sometimes it was just best to keep your mouth shut. But he could see that Naruto wanted an answer. The smile faded from his face and the bright blue eyes slowly started looking down.

'I'll visit you as many times as you want me to,' he blurted out.

Blue eyes widened a bit as Naruto looked up again and then a teasing crooked smile formed on his lips. 'You know I will keep you to that promise,' he responded, poking Sasuke against his chest.

Sasuke wanted to respond in a way, but was interrupted by a woman coming their way. 'Naruto, are you still not ready. Get in that room and change your outfit right now!' the woman called out and hurriedly Naruto dragged Sasuke into the room. While mumbling something like 'yes, lady Tsunade. Right away, lady Tsunade.'


	4. Chapter 4

Two bodies stumbled into the hospital room due to Naruto being a little too enthusiastic to pull them inside. Naruto was the one actually falling to the floor, but Sasuke remained standing up. It took a lot of effort, but it was not an Uchiha thing to just fall forward and smack your face on the floor. He straightened out his clothes and then extended a hand to help Naruto up, who was glaring at him for some reason.

'Well, thank you for catching me,' he said accusingly and Sasuke only raised an eyebrow in response. But Naruto wasn't really done and started mumbling stuff under his breath. Of course Sasuke heard everything clearly as he tried hoisting the boy back up. 'If you are really interested you would have fallen before me and caught me mid fall, but instead an arrogant look is of course much better and makes me feel very loved.'

Immediately Sasuke let go of Naruto's hand, not wanting to help the blonde up anymore. 'You would not have fallen down if you had looked where you were going, but instead you decided it would be smart to pull us into this room and almost throw the guy, who you want to keep visiting you, to the floor. I must say that makes me keen on visiting indeed.'

A rough laugh resonates through the room, almost sounding like a dog bark, and the source seems to be right in the corner of the room. Sasuke's eyes shoot up and fall on a tanned looking male with dark eyes and a toothy smile. This must be Naruto's roommate. Another laugh erupts from him as Naruto pulls Sasuke down to the floor without warning.

'You two look like an old married couple with the way you are bickering!' the guy roared with laughter. He was clutching his side as if he was in pain, but he couldn't stop laughing and it made Sasuke feel slightly uncomfortable. Naruto on the other hand started laughing along, suddenly seeing the funny part in it all. 'Right, Akamaru?' he then proceeded and suddenly a big white dog jumped out from under the hospital bed and barked right in Sasuke's face.

What the hell was happening here? 'Why is there a dog trying to lick my face?' Sasuke hissed, trying to avoid the white dog's tongue as much as possible, but still getting a long lick right over his nose.

Both Naruto and the other guy cracked up at this and this definitely did not sit well with Sasuke at all. The two were already bonding over his misfortune. Who was this guy anyway?

'Dude, your boyfriend really needs to lighten up!' Black and blue eyes snap up at him and the mood turns quite uncomfortable. Naruto stars fumbling with the clothes he was supposed to be wearing by now, the pretty gown and Sasuke's eyes look anywhere but the new guy or Naruto. Boyfriends? That was a little too quick. They barely knew each other, although he didn't want Naruto dating anyone else.

'Uh, he is not my boyfriend,' Naruto eventually says, pink dusting his cheeks.

This is the moment where Sasuke dares to look at the other guy and a knowing glint seems to be in his eyes. Sasuke doesn't like it at all. 'Oh, no sweat. We can go on a date instead,' the guy says teasingly and Naruto starts blushing even more, but a small smile finds his face as well. 'Although we do have to do the date here, because I can't leave the hospital anymore. But I promise you, you will have a great time!'

Naruto chuckles softly and then raises his thumb up and points at Sasuke. 'Nah, let's give this guy a chance first. If that doesn't work out I will gladly go on that date with you.' He ends it with a wink.

Sasuke just decided he really does not like this guy and if he doesn't watch his back, Naruto would be out of his reach in no time. This guy was going to spend so much more time with Naruto than Sasuke could. They were roommates for god's sake. How could he even compete with that?! This only meant he really needed to visit every day. All the time off he had, would be used to visit Naruto.

'Suit yourself, man. You have no idea what you are missing out on.' A smirk adorns the guy's face and this just makes Sasuke want to punch him in the face. How could this guy be so arrogant and he wasn't even that good looking.

The blonde shakes his head, still chuckling softly and then walks over to the guy. Why was he even going over to him? Naruto should stay by Sasuke's side and not talk to the guy anymore. Black eyes turned to slits as he glared at the pair. Naruto extends his hand and the guy takes it with that smirk still present on his face. 'Hey, I'm Naruto and I guess we will be roommates from now on.' Naruto then turns around and points at Sasuke, his smile somehow turning to something sweeter and it makes Sasuke's heart skip a beat. 'And that handsome man over there is Sasuke and I wish deep down he had not shown up in my life at this moment, but I am very glad he did.'

No words are spoken for a few minutes and Sasuke can feel his cheeks heat up. Did Naruto really just say that? He couldn't react to that, but somehow it did feel nice. At least he was wanted and Sasuke did want to stay still.

The smile had disappeared off the tanned man's face and he was staring at the sheets covering his legs. 'Yeah, I get that. It's nice to have someone close to you at these moments. That's why I have Akamaru here.' The dog immediately begins to bark, making Sasuke jump up and give it one of his famous glares. 'And I am Kiba by the way. Long cancer,' he simply states and Sasuke's eyes widen a bit.

'Stomach cancer,' Naruto then responds as if it was the most normal thing to say and Sasuke's eyes widen even further. He hadn't even known that yet and he just simply tells this new guy they just met.

There wasn't really any time to react, because then the woman, apparently called Tsunade, decided to step inside and stir things up a bit. She was looking at a chart in her hand and then glanced up first at Sasuke who was standing by the bed Naruto was supposed to be in and then shot an angry look into the corner where Kiba's bed was and Naruto was standing as well.

'Didn't I tell you to get changed, Naruto? Now hurry up before I do it myself,' the woman calls out angrily and quickly Naruto scrambles towards his bed and closes the paper curtain, giving himself enough privacy to get changed.

Sasuke remained standing right outside of it, getting quite uncomfortable, but Tsunade doesn't even give him a second glance, immediately focusing on Kiba and making small talk with him while she writes some stuff down in probably his chart. Suddenly a hand shoots out from behind the curtain and Sasuke gets yanked inside, coming eye to eye with Naruto.

The blonde gives him a quick kiss and smiles up at him, sliding a hand over Sasuke's pale face. 'Sorry Kiba flirted like that. I didn't want to tell him off since I will be rooming with him, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I really do like you and I hope this doesn't make you not want to come anymore,' Naruto ends softly, keeping hold off Sasuke's collar now just to keep him right there behind the curtain with him.

'Like I would let a cute little blonde like yourself get away with a dog like him,' Sasuke responds teasingly, letting his hands slide over Naruto's ass. 'And let's get you out of these clothes now, shall we?' A giggle erupts from Naruto's throat as Sasuke slowly starts undressing the blonde, letting his hands linger in places longer than they should.

'Naruto, are you in that gown yet?!' Tsunade suddenly yells again and that certainly sped things up. In mere seconds Naruto was out of his normal clothes and in that gorgeous blue paper sheet thing. At least Sasuke got a nice glimpse of Naruto's ass when the blonde climbed into his bed.

As soon as Naruto sat down, the curtain slid open and Tsunade stepped in, flipping through some papers on her chart. 'Alright, I have some private questions for you, so can your boyfriend step out now.' They both didn't respond, also not to the boyfriend part, and Sasuke stepped out without a fight. The curtain was closed again and Sasuke now felt like he was alone with the weird dog and its owner. Great.

Sasuke kept his back turned towards Kiba, not interested in talking to him at all. The guy had flirted with Naruto and that was enough to make Sasuke not like him at all. They may not be boyfriends, but he could've seen they were interested in each other. He should just have backed out and shut up. Play with his dog or something. Why was that thing here anyway?

'You better be ready for everything that is about to come, because what Naruto will be going through as of today won't be sunshine and rainbows,' Kiba suddenly spoke up and Sasuke felt his eyes narrow. How dare the guy talk to him like that? As if Sasuke didn't know this would be a hard time. 'I can tell the guy really likes you,' Kiba continues, not waiting for Sasuke to respond. 'And we all need someone during these times. I have Akamaru and I am grateful that Tsunade let him stay here with me, but sometimes I wished I had a person to share these moments with. You really need to be ready or otherwise get the hell out of here right now.'

Sasuke then turned, raising an eyebrow at Kiba. The dog boy seemed sad and angry, but mostly frustrated. He had been alone through all of this most of the time it seemed. 'Where's your family?'

A chuckle ripples off Kiba's lips. 'It's not the same, man. My family stops by every week, but a lover is just something else. I don't know why, but it feels differently to the heart.' They both stay silent for a moment, deep in thought. Sasuke really doesn't want to leave Naruto's side, but Kiba's speech did make him feel funny. 'So I really do hope you decide to stay, because I can see you really like him as well.'

Some weird screeches come from behind the curtain and Naruto starts talking about something that is cold and shouldn't be felt in places like that. Kind of a strange moment to break the silence between Sasuke and Kiba, but it did in a certain way.

Sasuke sat down in the chair beside Kiba's bed and thought for a moment longer, before opening his mouth to say something. 'If times get rough is it okay if I come to you for advice? You've been going through this far longer than I have.' Somehow it felt right to ask and Kiba did seem to care about his and Naruto's relationship, wherever that even stood right now. This didn't mean Sasuke really liked the guy since he still flirted with the guy he liked, but at least he had something to share with that knew what this was like. He just needed the support.

The curtain slid open again and Tsunade stepped out, not even giving them a second glance before leaving the room. Naruto smiled at them both and raised his eyebrows at Sasuke in a question.

'Sure, he is worth it and I think you are worth it as well, so if this is what will make you stay than you can talk about whatever you want and ask whatever you want.'

The both kept staring at Naruto, not returning the smile at all and then all three of them realised how tough this will be for all of them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things I describe here are probably not very accurate. I apologies for that. I try to write what I know and it isn't much. I do not try to offend anyone with this!

It was now a few days later and Naruto had settled nicely in the hospital. Sasuke had stopped by every day after he got back from the office and then stayed until visiting hours were over. That was something that really sucked. He could only be there for a few hours and not leave whenever he felt like it. They did eat dinner together, which was nice. Too bad the hospital food was kind of crap and Sasuke wasn’t allowed to bring in his own. 

But today had been an extra important day. For the past few days it had all been about getting Naruto comfortable and find out exactly how he was doing, but today he got his first chemo. Sasuke had done everything to get the day off and join the blonde during the difficult time, but his boss wouldn’t let him get off early even. 

So now Sasuke was hurrying out of the office and getting into his car as fast as possible. Of course traffic was horrible and it took him way longer to get to the hospital than it normally would. He just wanted to be there for Naruto since the blonde had been terrified and he already had to disappoint him by not being there during the procedure itself. Hopefully he would be forgiven for all this and it would be great if Kiba hadn’t swept in and showed what kind of supportive guy he was. 

Smoothly he made his way through the hospital, avoiding all the people who were currently here during the visiting hours. Some were incredibly slow and had no idea where to go and then those elevators, too crowded that it was a miracle it still moved. But he finally got to the right floor, it being one of the quieter ones, thankfully. He walked passed Tsunade who yelled at him for spending too much time here while he certainly didn’t agree. Sasuke rather spend more time here, but yeah, he wasn’t allowed…

The first thing Sasuke’s eyes fell on were the two females standing around Kiba’s bed and there were even more damn dogs! Were they multiplying?! He had just gotten used to that weird white one, but now there are four more. Sasuke decided to kindly ignore it all and focus on Naruto and only then he noticed that the curtain was closed around the blonde’s bed. That had never happened before. Sasuke shot Kiba a desperate look, wanting to know what was going on before he went in. But the only thing he got back was a sad look and a shake of the head. So Naruto wasn’t doing so well… Damn it, he should’ve been here!

Carefully he pushed the curtain to the side and stepped in, closing it behind him again. When he turned towards the blonde, it was obvious Naruto didn’t want to look at him or anyone else for that matter. It must’ve gone really bad then or something. He took place on the side of Naruto’s bed and laid his hand on the blonde’s hip, wanting him to turn to face him already. But Naruto didn’t seem to respond at all, so Sasuke just sat there in silence until it really got to him.

‘How did everything go today?’ he asked softly, stroking Naruto’s sides now in a comforting matter. He really hoped everything was alright with the blonde. It really got to him seeing the always happy Naruto being so quiet and depressed like this. 

Slowly Naruto then did turn around, but didn’t look up at Sasuke, just stared at the sheets in front of him. ‘I feel really tired,’ he said softly, his voice having something raspy. He actually had huge bags under his eyes and the blue seemed a little duller than usual. This was not the Naruto Sasuke had fallen for…

‘What did they do?’ Sasuke asked then, moving his hand up to let his thumb slide over Naruto’s cheek, noting that it lost a bit of his usual tan. Naruto really must be very tired. 

The blonde shifted a little in the bed, making more room in his bed. ‘Lay down beside me first,’ Naruto said softly and Sasuke did what he was told, now sharing a pillow and staring each other deep in the eyes. Naruto started explaining on how the chemo worked. How they had brought him to another room and put a new infuse in his arm, the needle was actually still in there, so they didn’t have to do it again. And then a clear fluid dripped into his arms. It really took hours before it was finally over and the more that dripped in, the more tired Naruto become. He also felt incredibly sick afterwards and threw up a few times. All of this didn’t sound all too nice and Sasuke felt even worse about not being here. 

He wrapped his arms around Naruto and hugged him close, the blonde settling in his arms and letting out a content smile. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t here, Naruto,’ Sasuke murmured softly, tightening his hold on his lover. ‘I really tried, but my boss was being an ass and now I really feel bad. I promise I’ll be here next time.’

‘It’s okay,’ Naruto sighed out, nuzzling Sasuke’s neck and closing his eyes. Whatever Sasuke said after that, Naruto missed, because the warm hold of the raven and the sweet smile he carried around on his skin, put Naruto right out. He was just so tired and it was nice to have the comforting hold of someone here. He was so happy he wasn’t going through all this alone. 

Sasuke just stayed silent and let his hand slide over Naruto’s back. He listened to the busy voices outside and the dogs bark at their owners. It seemed Kiba was really close to the two women out there and he did look a lot like them as well. Probably his mother and sister or something. His mother was a lot like Kiba. Yelling and laughing a lot and then suddenly she got mad and started lecturing her son about things that didn’t matter. His sister was more of the silent type or at least it seemed that way. 

Not much else happened around the room, but the soft breathing of Naruto let Sasuke know he was sleeping and the raven didn’t want to wake him up after the day he just had. He wanted to be there for his blonde and this seemed to be the only way at the moment. 

And then suddenly the door opened and the room went quiet. Not that Sasuke could see who was coming due to the curtain, but he still held his breath, wanting to hear who it was. But then the curtain was pushed open and the pink haired girl from the front desk stepped in, smiling widely when she noticed Sasuke there. 

‘Oh, hey there. Didn’t know you were here,’ Sakura said happily and also a little too loud for Sasuke’s liking. Couldn’t she see Naruto was sleeping? Though he didn’t think he would wake up any time soon. He just glared at her, but Sakura didn’t seem to take the hint. ‘Just here to check up on Naruto. He just had his first chemo, but you probably already know that.’ Seriously, was she that dense? Just go away, woman. ‘I’ll just check his stats and then leave you two alone.’ Finally she got the hint and she looked uncomfortable as well. Good, maybe she really understood now that he wasn’t interested in her, but in the beautiful blonde sleeping in his arms. Seriously she had been hitting on him every time he walked past the desk. 

Sakura walked around the bed and checked his IV and his heart monitor, writing something down and then tapping her pen against the paper. Something must be going on, but she wasn’t panicking, so should be alright. Hopefully they would inform him when something did happen. He was now also the person they called in a case of emergency, so that was good. 

The pink haired female stepped away again and smiled politely this time. ‘I got everything I need, so I will leave you alone now. Everything seemed to be alright, so I’ll come check after the visiting hours are over. You have about half an hour left though, so I’ll come get you when it’s time,’ she said sternly, pointing her pen at Sasuke before disappearing behind the curtain again. He still wondered why someone would dye their hair that awful colour pink. Why, seriously why would someone do a soft pink? If you start washing it, it would fade way too soon and get all greyish or something. 

And then she spoke up again, now saying something to the other family in the room. ‘And the same goes for you. Mom and sister need to leave and those dogs definitely need to leave. How many times do we have to tell you that you can bring one at a time? This is not okay. We can’t have that many dogs in here. Allowing the one is already a big deal.’ The family murmured an apology and actually left then, but Sasuke could hear in their tone that they definitely would be bringing the dogs along next time. Just like they had done every time before. They really were a family that didn’t care much about rules. Sasuke didn’t want to think it, but they seemed a little like trailer trash… 

Then everything went quiet again as soon as the door closed behind Kiba’s family. Sasuke could hear Kiba shift in his bed and then the rolling of some IV thing. The curtain opened a little bit and suddenly the tanned boy was in there with them as well. 

‘Chemo is pretty rough on your body,’ he said simply, taking a seat next to the bed. Apparently he wasn’t done with socializing or something. Sasuke couldn’t see him though since his back was to the chair and he didn’t want to move with Naruto lying in his arms. ‘It really is poison they drain into your body, but it kills the tumour. It will take a while before it is over though and he needs chemo every week. I don’t know if they plan to operate, but it usually is nicer. His hair will fall out and he will weaken a lot. You’ll see him in a lot worse state than this if you stay.’ 

Kiba fell quiet as he let the words sink in and Sasuke didn’t know how to respond. For the first time it really was laid out to him what would happen. It still wasn’t clear much, but he did know more. He wasn’t sure if he was so happy about that though. He hadn’t googled anything, because he just didn’t want to know. But now he couldn’t deny what was going to happen. He couldn’t push the thought away of a hairless Naruto. It would be like staring at the sun without it shining down at him or a flower not yet in bloom. 

‘You’ll make it through,’ Kiba then suddenly stated, standing up again and walking out of the curtain. ‘You don’t want to see Naruto suffer and he would do a lot worse if he hadn’t known you’d be here later on. He waited with sleeping until you were here.’ 

Sasuke heard the bed tip when Kiba got back into bed, but never said something back. It really got to him to hear that. Naruto had actually waited until Sasuke got here and then fell asleep right away, because he was finally comfortable. 

Now he knew it was going to be rough, but Sasuke realised he needed to be here for Naruto. Not just because Sasuke cared so much, but because the blonde would get through this so much easier. So Sasuke would stay and take every blow that would hit them both. It would get hard, but he would stay.


	6. Chapter 6

Today Sasuke would actually be a little early to visit Naruto and the whole way there Sasuke smiled, happy about this fact and that his boss finally decided to be nice for a change. The raven had stopped at another place first, picking out the most beautiful flowers and adding a nice card to it to make it extra special. Maybe it was a little cliché, but Sasuke had actually never done things like these, so he had no idea what would be an original gift for someone who was in the hospital? And did it really matter anyway?

With the flowers in his hand, he stalked towards the elevators and went to the right floor. It was a little busier at this hour, the visiting hours just having started. Everyone seemed to want to visit their friends or family members that were here in some room. So the elevator was overly crowded and Sasuke was glad that he could get out on his floor, pushing several people to the side harshly to preserve his flowers. 

‘Aw, you got flowers for Naruto?’ Sakura asked him as he stalked passed her, only responding with a simple ‘hn’. He wasn’t really interested in her and she was acting way too sweet towards them to his liking. Shooting them loving looks and giving them cute nicknames. Awful. But the blonde actually loved all the attention and would hug Sasuke even closer once Sakura started. Even more awful. 

As he approached the door Sasuke could hear the soft mumbling of someone talking and immediately assumed that Kiba would have visitors over. But when he pushed open the door he noticed someone was sitting by Naruto’s bed and he did recognise the deep red hair from somewhere. And then he remembered it was Naruto’s friend, Gaara was his name, right? 

It actually took a moment before Naruto even noticed his, uhh, friend? Standing in the doorway, but then a big smile formed on his lips and his eyes lit up as they fell on the beautiful white flowers Sasuke had brought over. ‘Sasuke’s here!’ he announced, extending his arms and waiting until the raven would respond to the hug. With a grumble said raven walked over and carefully wrapped an arm around the blonde’s small figure, making sure to avoid the tubes and not pull them out.

‘Hey,’ Sasuke responded softly, leaning back a little and greeting Naruto with a kiss on the lips. Not something he did very often, not feeling very comfortable kissing with people around, but now he felt the need to show Gaara that he was here for Naruto and that he would stay here for Naruto. He had no idea what kind of relationship there was between the redhead and Naruto, but they better not have some history together. Sasuke wouldn’t suddenly be pushed out. 

As Sasuke leaned back he noticed the light blush dusting his lovely blonde’s cheeks, his eyes descended down as a small smile graced his lips. ‘So you came early today, brought be flowers and kiss me. Is it my birthday or something?’

And with that Naruto deserved another kiss, Sasuke still completely ignoring the redhead sitting to the side. Although he stayed awfully quiet as well. ‘Not your birthday, but I thought we should celebrate the fact that my boss wasn’t a complete jerk today and let me leave early,’ he murmured, lightly smirking down at Naruto. 

Two tanned arms coiled around Sasuke’s neck and pulled him onto the bed. ‘Well, I hope you don’t mind celebrating this with Gaara here, but now you have an excuse to sit next to me in bed again,’ Naruto replied cheekily, smirking a little of his own as he made the raven sit on the bed with him, snuggling close and forcing an arm around his shoulders. Not that Sasuke minded. It was much better to sit next to the lovely blonde than beside him on the chair. 

‘Of course I don’t mind,’ Sasuke replied, looking down at Gaara and giving the redhead a slight nod in acknowledgement, immediately getting the same nod back. Another silent force it seemed. Then his dark eyes moved through the room and settled on Naruto’s roommate, sending him a nod as well, but adding a bit of a wave to show off that he was friendlier with people he actually knew. 

Kiba only replied with a little smile and then glanced out of the window again and Sasuke couldn’t help but wonder why he thought the brunette looked sort of sad. Even the dog had stayed calm as he walked in and that was very unusual as well, but he wouldn’t ask what was going on. Naruto’s mood seemed fine, so it couldn’t be that bad. They would share everything it seemed, so as long as Naruto didn’t appear sad, then Kiba should be fine as well. It was strange, but he had grown comfortable with Kiba in the room, so didn’t mind him much anymore. It was better for Naruto anyway that Kiba was here, so that made a big difference as well.

‘So Sasuke, I’ve heard you stopped by to visit Naruto every day now,’ Gaara suddenly spoke up, his voice sounding a little raspy as if he had smoked too much. But there was this accusing undertone that didn’t sit well with Sasuke. What was Gaara’s problem anyway? Why would you say such a thing if you know it’s the truth already anyway? But he could also show off a little.

‘I have been here every day, yes. When I get out of work the first thing I do is visit Naruto until visiting hours are over and I also was the one who brought him here on his first day.’ Not adding the part unlike his so called friend, Gaara. Had the redhead even been here before already or was this actually the first time he got here? What was his deal with judging him then? 

Gaara’s lips turned into a slim line, eyes narrowing slightly at Sasuke as he glanced over at the pair. A strange awkwardness rose in the room and Naruto shifted uncomfortably beside Sasuke, unsure of what to do in this situation. ‘Well, I am glad you are taking care of Naruto then. They better not be empty promises,’ he threatened. The redhead didn’t even try to stay nice.

‘I do not make empty promises,’ Sasuke replied annoyed. ‘An Uchiha will always stick by his word, because we don’t throw them around carelessly.’ He stared down the redhead with a glare of his own, not allowing Gaara to talk him down and force him to leave. Sasuke would stay, as he had promised so many times already, more to himself than actually said out loud, but did that matter?

Silence took over the room again and as Sasuke was waiting on a reply from Gaara, Naruto just didn’t know what to do. Kiba was eyeing them curiously as well, listening on to the weird conversation being shared. Of course it wasn’t strange of Gaara to be weary of the guy that suddenly walked into Naruto’s life and decided to take over everything and make sure the blonde was fine. If he could decide on that so fast, then he definitely could choose to leave suddenly as well. And to think that Gaara actually left the guy with his friend when he was drunk. But Naruto had needed that at the moment and how would Gaara have known that it would end up like this? Preferably he would have Sasuke out of their lives soon.

Gaara turned his head away from the couple and decided to glare at the floor instead. ‘Your Uchiha word means nothing to me, but I can give you my word that I will make your life miserable if you do something to Naruto that makes him unhappy.’ Another threat thrown Sasuke’s way, this time with more form than the other had. 

But how could Sasuke reply to that? He wouldn’t expect anything less, but the fact that Gaara already assumed something horrible was going to happen bothered him. What made him so untrustworthy? Of course he hadn’t been in long term relationships before, but Gaara wasn’t aware of that and he was sure you couldn’t see that on his face. So what did make him seem like someone that you couldn’t trust? 

Eventually he didn’t reply and glanced away as well, his glare directed to the wall. The awkward mood stretched on, no one wanting to speak up anymore. Naruto glanced around, very uncomfortable, and leaned a little closer to Sasuke as if that would comfort him. Of course he was also still worried that one day Sasuke just wouldn’t show up, but he wouldn’t blame the raven for it. It was already a miracle that Sasuke was still here. 

Suddenly someone cleared his throat, three pairs of eyes immediately shooting his way, two of them daring him to say something. ‘Uhh, I just couldn’t help but listen in since you are in the same room and well, it’s kind of quiet here. But your red friend over there of course has every right to doubt Sasuke over here, but I just wanted to say that I think Sasuke will keep his word and will stay. He’s been around a lot already and goes out of his way to make Naruto feel better about everything. So cut the guy some slack and just enjoy your time with Naruto. You don’t stop by very often,’ Kiba spoke up, feeling like someone should say something. 

Gaara huffed a little, but then relaxed in his seat, apparently deciding he could trust the dog lover. He didn’t reply though, but the atmosphere had gotten better and even Naruto smiled again, so it should be fine and Sasuke did expect Gaara to punish him if he screwed things up with Naruto. Even in his own mind he would deserve it then. 

Black eyes turned a little softer as Sasuke kept staring at Kiba, mouthing a thank you and receiving a nod back in return. Yes, he definitely was growing fond of the dog lover, even if the dog still wasn’t really his thing. Kiba was just friendly, even if he was annoying at times. And with that Kiba removed himself from the conversation again, eyes glancing back to stare out the window. 

And then Gaara suddenly rose from his chair and stretched a little. ‘Well, since I assume you want to spend some time with your new boyfriend, I’ll leave you alone,’ he announced, already walking towards the door. ‘I’ll see you in a few days, Naruto.’ And with that he left, not even saying anything to the other two in the room. 

Sasuke’s heart had actually skipped a beat when he heard the word boyfriend, the word still freaking him out a little. He just wasn’t comfortable with calling them boyfriends, even if he was always there and they acted like it. Could they just not label it and enjoy their time together? Boyfriend was just weird or something. 

The blonde turned towards Sasuke as soon as Gaara had left the room, shouting some sort of goodbye to him as well. He leaned up close to the raven’s ear and whispered, ‘could you close the curtain for a moment?’ And with a shrug Sasuke did as he was told, wondering what Naruto wanted to discuss with him in private. Maybe it was about Kiba and there was something with that sad look he had seen before. 

When the curtain was closed all around them, Sasuke get back on the bed with Naruto and just sat there waiting for Naruto to talk. But instead the sick blonde leaned in and captured Sasuke’s lips in a long kiss, asking much more from the raven. Well, it was something they hadn’t done in a while and Sasuke definitely was not going to force Naruto to stop. 

A tongue slipped into his mouth and he leaned further over, so that he was almost lying on top of Naruto, wanting him to be most comfortable. Soft sounds could be heard in the room as hands started wandering over the other’s body, asking for much more than this. Sasuke couldn’t help himself, Naruto was just so incredibly sexy and his lips on his were so incredibly soft. 

‘You know I can hear you,’ Kiba said a little annoyed and Sasuke broke the kiss for a moment to reply, smirk on his lips.

‘Well, I promise we won’t take it further, but you better enjoy the sounds of kissing, because I am not done yet.’ And as Naruto blushed a bright red, lips were immediately latched onto each other again and stayed there for quite some time, ignoring the brunette’s complaining sounds.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small lemon up ahead!

Curtains were closed again and soft pleased noises could be heard from behind them. How he had gotten himself in this position again? Well, Sasuke just walked in and noticed that Kiba’s bed was empty, probably gone for chemo or some other testing, so Naruto was alone and there was this gleam in his eyes that said he was up to something. Of course Sasuke had been suspicious and slowly walked over to Naruto, who conveniently was out of bed, standing just beside the curtain. 

As soon as Sasuke was next to him, Naruto pushed him on the bed and quickly closed the curtain and after spending some time kissing and touching and whatever else you could imagine, they were now naked under the thin sheet, Sasuke on top of Naruto. Lips of course still attached to each other, but add three fingers buried deep inside of Naruto, stretching him as best as he could. 

This was definitely something that Sasuke normally wouldn’t do. He didn’t find anything appealing to the thought of being caught. But there was just something about Naruto that made him do these things. He rather did have sex with the blonde and have the possibility to be caught than refuse and go without sex for a long time. And god, he had also found out that Naruto was great at giving blowjobs, expertly having his lips slide down his erection. 

It wouldn’t be long before they certainly couldn’t do anything like this anymore, Naruto too tired due to the chemo, so they made the best of it. They would be alone for about an hour and a half Naruto guessed, so they took their time, Sasuke still slowly pumping his fingers in and out of Naruto, teasing the bundle of nerves lightly. At this point Naruto was already a moaning mess, begging for more, begging to be filled up by something bigger. But Sasuke stopped the words from leaving Naruto’s lips, claiming them with his own and smirking at the thought of Naruto wanting him this badly. 

Hips were thrusting down, forcing the three fingers deeper inside Naruto’s body, brushing the prostate a little more effectively. A loud moan left the blonde’s lips and hungrily Sasuke drank it all up. The lovely sounds and begging words. 

It wasn’t long until the raven couldn’t hold back anymore. Carefully he pulled his fingers back and out of Naruto, lifting the blonde’s legs up and automatically Naruto wrapped them around Sasuke’s waist, a needy moan leaving his lips as he anticipated on what was about to come. Sasuke aligned his cock with Naruto’s quivering hole, it begging to be filled as soon as possible and slowly Sasuke started pushing in the head. 

Naruto was so tight around him and a low groan escaped his lips when the walls started squeezing around him, trying to get a feel of what was intruding him. It took him some time before Sasuke was completely in, the tightness preventing him from easily sliding in and the experience just felt amazing as well. If this was what Naruto would feel like every time, then he would definitely want to do this a lot more and also for a very long time. Too bad he would have to wait for a while now, but it would definitely be worth it. 

He had kept still too long and Naruto was moving his hips down, pushing him to move as the soft plump lips were kissing all along the pale skin of Sasuke’s neck. With another soft groan he started to move, sliding almost completely out and then thrusting back in, setting in a slow pace to have them both get used to the feeling again. 

With every thrust Sasuke delivered he could feel Naruto’s hole sucking him in further, wanting to be touched more and at a certain spot. It was always hard to find this way, but he would do his best, angling his pushes as best as he could. He also quickened his pace a little, making their breathing become more rapid and Naruto’s hands clawing lightly on Sasuke’s back, soft moans mingling in. 

Teeth nibbling at the soft skin of his neck and then a rough suck let Sasuke know he was marked, claimed by the lovely blonde below him. Oh, how hot Naruto really was. And then those walls clamped down again, making Naruto even tighter than he already was. Naruto knew exactly what to do to drive him crazy. Another groan left Sasuke’s lips as he started slamming in, wanting to reach as deep as possible. 

And then he heard that lovely loud moan, drawn out until Naruto had to breathe again. He had found the spot he was looking for. With that he aimed every hard delivered thrust at that spot, abusing Naruto’s prostate as much as he could just to hear that lovely sound more and more. 

Naruto threw his head back, lips parted to let out sound after sound, opening his legs as far as possible to create more room. Sasuke could see Naruto lose control over his body, the eyes fluttering shut and drool slowly dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. And then at the tightening of the muscles Sasuke noticed Naruto wouldn’t be long anymore, so he reached between their bodies and grabbed Naruto’s erection and as soon as he started stroking it, the head trashing started, moving from left to right. 

Walls clamped down around Sasuke’s cock, keeping him still like a vice and then a loud moan, almost scream, left Naruto’s lips as the blonde came over Sasuke’s hand and his own abdomen. It took some time before the blonde came down from his high and the raven made sure he would keep completely still until Naruto did. And then slowly arms were wrapped around his neck and he was pulled down for a kiss, signalling Sasuke could move again. He hadn’t come yet and he wasn’t about to just stop. 

Sasuke set a pace that felt the best for him, not too fast and not too slow. And then suddenly Naruto’s lips were right next to his ear, his hot breath teasing the soft skin. Then the murmuring started and god, those words drove him crazy. Where did this Naruto come from?

‘Once I get out of the hospital we will be doing this a lot more,’ Naruto began, just a nice promise, but then it got better. ‘Because you have no idea how high my libido really is. I need to have sex at least once a day and just the thought of your cock buried deep inside of me would get me hard again.’ A shiver ran down Sasuke’s spine at the thought, his thrusts becoming a little more erratic. But then it got good. Naruto was excellent at this dirty talking.

‘But don’t worry, I will make sure you will crave me every day. I would dress up for you in the nicest outfits and buy toys that we could use in varies ways. And what about tying me up?’ That was it. Sasuke couldn’t go any further now. Those thoughts running through his mind.

He was already picturing Naruto in a nurse outfit, taking care of him instead and then the treatment he needed was sex. Yes, a bad porn movie idea, but would it work. ‘F-fuck, Naruto-o,’ Sasuke groaned out, slamming in his cock a bit more rapidly. Or what about having Naruto tied to the bed, blindfolded as well, and then Sasuke could tease him as much as he pleased and then eventually just slide into that tight hole again. 

‘But you know what I want to do the most with you?’ Oh, god, yes Sasuke wanted to know badly. ‘Make a movie and then watch it over and over again just so I can perfectly see how you fuck me hard.’

And then Sasuke came and he was loud, which he never was. He didn’t even like the idea of being filmed while he had sex, but it did the trick. Just the thought of watching himself fucking Naruto was a dream come true. How could he be so much more adventurous with Naruto? He was never one to experiment, but now he definitely was. 

Riding out his orgasm he stared deep into those blue orbs, them holding some sort of knowing glint. Naruto knew exactly how to pull him over the line. Even if the blonde looked so innocent, he knew exactly what he wanted and when he wanted it. 

Slowly he pulled out his softening cock, hissing lightly when Naruto teasingly squeezed his walls down again. Such a bastard he was. With a soft sigh Sasuke laid his head on Naruto’s chest, his breathing slowly calming down again. ‘You are really the biggest pervert I have ever met,’ Sasuke murmured and he could hear the tired chuckle leaving Naruto’s lips. Yeah, he agreed. 

‘At least it will never get boring with me and I am not lying. I do like that stuff you know, so you better know what you’re getting yourself into,’ Naruto teased, a smirk on his lips as he softly stroked through the soft raven locks. 

Well, that made Sasuke’s heart flutter. So they were actually going to do all those things and the more surprising part, he didn’t mind at all. ‘I am looking forward to it,’ he said softly and then got off Naruto, lying down next to him as he pulled the blonde close again. 

They just stayed there in a comfortable silence and Sasuke could feel his eyelids getting heavier and heavier, but he would have to leave soon. Why couldn’t he just spend the night? It was even Sunday tomorrow, so no need to hurry home. But Naruto would be checked upon again and then Sasuke would be in the way. It was all just so annoying… 

And then suddenly the door flipped open, signalling Kiba was back. Both held their breath, waiting for the comments the brunette would make about their session. It definitely smelled like sex here and the closed curtains should say enough as well. But they never came. Not even when they heard the other bed dip under Kiba’s weight and settling under the blankets. Why was the dog lover so silent? And then Sasuke also realised that Akamaru hadn’t been around for a few days already. What was going on with Kiba? Maybe he should have a talk with the brunette tomorrow or something.

With the way Naruto shifted in Sasuke’s arms and glanced over to wear Kiba would be lying through the curtain, he knew that the blonde found it strange as well. There was something that Kiba wasn’t sharing with them and it bothered Sasuke. But he couldn’t question him right now, being naked and all. 

And then the door opened, silencing them anyway, because someone else was coming in as well. Apparently they came to check up on Kiba some more and as the clicking of the heels told them it was a woman, they started talking in hushed voices. They couldn’t really make out what was being said, but the woman’s voice sounded soothing and Kiba’s voice quite… dead somehow. 

Heels clicked towards them again, moving over to the door and then the woman spoke up to them. ‘Naruto,’ Tsunade said annoyed. ‘I think I have told you many times before that you were not allowed to have sex in the hospital.’ She fell silent for a moment as she stood still, right outside their curtain and Sasuke prayed she wouldn’t come in. ‘Don’t let it happen again.’

‘Yes, ma’am!’ Naruto called out, resisting the urge of raising his hand against his forehead. ‘Just needed to try it once, ma’am!’

A soft sigh was heard outside of the curtain. ‘Stop joking around, Naruto. And if it does happen again, Sasuke won’t be visiting you alone ever again.’ The heels stared clicking again, leaving the threat hanging in the air. There was no way Sasuke wanted company every time he came here and then with his luck it would be the nurse that seemed to love their relationship. ‘And visiting hours are over in ten minutes, Sasuke. So I suggest putting on some clothes.’


	8. Chapter 8

Late yet again. Why was his boss always whining to him when the day was almost over? Okay, his mind drifted off a lot more nowadays, but what would you do if your… lover had cancer and the treatment was really getting to him? They were a few weeks further ahead now and Naruto’s chemo was really kicking in. So Sasuke thought a lot about the blonde. It wasn’t weird and he surely had told his boss about this. Not that the man cared. His motto was stay at the office as long as possible, because it was better here than at home with the wife. Well Sasuke didn’t agree!

Damn the man. And he was worried about his precious blonde. The look on Naruto’s face when he had that first lock of hair in his hand, realising he was finally going to lose it all, it still haunted his dreams. The blond hair was just so beautiful and it really made Naruto, immediately showing off his sunny personality. Of course he wouldn’t complain and make it worse for Naruto, but he didn’t like this happening. 

And Naruto knew he didn’t like it, which made it worse. Every day Sasuke visited he noticed more bald spots on the blonde’s scalp and then Naruto’s face would get this sudden sad expression, apparently reading it in Sasuke’s eyes. Why had Naruto figured him out so easily? No one ever did, but Naruto easily read him like an open book, recognising when something was bothering him and most of the time even knowing what it was about. Sometimes those looks felt more intimate than actually having sex with the blonde. 

But it wasn’t just the hair loss that bothered both Sasuke and Naruto. The blonde was getting skinnier, the appetite for food disappearing, and last time Sasuke checked, he could count the blonde’s ribs. Not quite pleasant to see someone change like this. And then Naruto also was more tired than before, sleeping earlier, even now when Sasuke was still there. It really was affecting his lover and it made the raven wonder why Kiba was holding up so easily. The brunette still had all his hair and actually looked quite okay. Sometimes just some pain in the chest or something, but for the rest he looked just fine. Why? Why was Naruto doing so much worse? And why was it the chemo that was doing this and not the cancer itself? It was supposed to make him better!

But the chemicals can’t be good for you, nor the radiation of it. Maybe it destroyed the cancer cells, but wouldn’t it also destroy some good cells? Tsunade already told him it would take some time to get over this after the cancer was gone. And then it was already the case if the cancer would disappear just with the chemo. There had been some talks about surgery and it was something that Sasuke definitely didn’t like to hear. Apparently the tumour had taken over a lot of the stomach and would be hard to remove completely without damaging too much. Naruto might even need a stomach transplant and that list was long… 

Annoyed by all these horrible thoughts about Naruto not getting better Sasuke walked through the front doors of the hospital, glaring at everyone who passed. Just don’t get in his way, he was already late and pissed off by that as well. This day was just horrible! 

Finally he got to the right floor and walked along the reception desk, until a voice stopped him in his tracks. ‘Oh, Sasuke! Hold on!’ The pinkette hurried around the desk towards the raven as he slowly turned to face Sakura.

‘What do you want? I’m already late,’ he said in a monotone, the annoyance only shown by what he said. Coolly he looked down at her. What could she possibly want from him this time? She knew now that he was together with Naruto, so she couldn’t be after him anymore. Or maybe she wanted to know something about his love life? She wouldn’t be one of those meddling girls, right? Giving horrible advice that would definitely not help at all. Some chicks just didn’t understand… 

The girl fidgeted a bit under his stare, certainly not feeling very confident about herself. ‘Well, I just wanted to warn you. Don’t freak out, alright? Naruto is already feeling very self-conscious about this all, so just walk in there and pretend it’s not a bad thing, okay?’ 

Seriously, Sasuke was already freaking out now. What the hell was she talking about? With wide eyes he turned away from her and hurried towards the door, feeling like something very horrible was waiting on him behind that door. ‘He better not be hurt!’ he called over his shoulder as a threat and Sakura flinched a little, moving back towards her desk. She really didn’t want to get involved and she really just wanted to warn the raven. It might be bit of a shock otherwise.

In a swift move Sasuke pushed open the door, the handle slamming against the wall beside it. His dark eyes moved through the room, easily settling on the blonde… Or previously blonde. All of the hair was gone, leaving behind a bare slightly less tanned scalp and it looked weird. Black eyes just kept staring, keeping his mouth shut. Yes, he was freaking out, on the inside of course. Why had Naruto done this? Without even discussing it with him as well! Didn’t Sasuke have a say in this? 

‘I knew you would hate it…’ Naruto murmured, sadly glancing at his hand. And then Sasuke realised he was exactly doing what Sakura had wanted to prevent. If he had just stayed there and let her explain, he wouldn’t have gotten this surprise. He would just casually have walked in and just comment lightly on the hairless boy. 

Quickly Sasuke moved over to the previous blonde and sat down beside him. ‘No, I don’t hate it,’ Sasuke tried to reason. ‘It just surprised me a little,’ he murmured softly, giving Naruto a light kiss on the lips. A slight smile then formed on his lips as he stared deep into those piercing blue eyes. ‘Wouldn’t you be shocked if I suddenly walked in with a bald head?’

And that made those blue eyes widen significantly. ‘No!’ Naruto exclaimed. ‘You can’t shave your head! Your hair is so beautiful.’ Well, that was quite unexpected, but still a nice compliment to get. So his hair looked nice according to his lover. He would definitely not shave it all off then. Maybe even show it off a little more. He was thinking about changing his look a little. The bangs were getting a little old. 

‘Oh, so that was why you asked me about shaving your head, huh?’ another voice butted in, turning Sasuke’s head towards the source of it. And there Kiba was, also very bald and still smirking lightly. ‘His hair was too beautiful, so I just had to be your bald buddy. I see how this is then,’ he teased and Sasuke couldn’t help but feel a little bad for the previously brunette boy. It was very nice though, shaving his head together with Naruto. It must’ve been a tough experience to go through and having someone’s support was great. 

Sasuke just wished he could’ve been there as well. Shouldn’t he be there for the support? It stung a little that Naruto had chosen Kiba for this. Wouldn’t they bond over it and maybe get closer than Naruto and he were? 

A pillow was thrown across the room, hitting Kiba’s legs instead of his face which it was aimed at. ‘I never made you shave your head as well, dude!’ Naruto exclaimed happily, getting the pillow right back. See, these moments. It were these moments that Sasuke was missing out on. The little teasing fights and the little jokes shared just between them. 

So the raven stayed out of the conversation as the pillow was tossed back and forth, Naruto soon growing tired of the extra energy being used. Sasuke carefully got off the bed, feeling very out of place, and sat down in the chair beside the bed. Immediately Naruto turned his head towards him, ignoring the pillow that was again thrown his way. ‘Hey, something wrong?’ he asked, of course immediately picking up on Sasuke’s feelings. Annoying… 

But he knew Naruto would be picking at it until Sasuke would finally admit what was bothering him. So he shifted a little uncomfortably in his chair, glancing away from the bed to look at the door instead. ‘I just would’ve liked to have shared that moment with you. I don’t even know why you decided to shave your head nor do I understand why I was left out.’ Did he really sound like a whiny baby when he said these things? The words even tasted bad.

‘Oh, Naruto. Your wife sounds mad! Better go fix it and buy some flowers!’ Kiba immediately received an angry glare and Sasuke stood up, ready to just leave. It was already hard enough to say these things and then being mocked for it certainly didn’t help. The brunette should just stay out of his business and focus on his own life.

But before Sasuke could even reach for the door, a hand stopped him from walking, tugging on his shirt. When he turned he saw Naruto had gotten out of bed just to make him stay, but was actually glaring at Kiba for his reaction to it all. ‘Shut up, dog breath. Sasuke has every right to be mad about this and you know it,’ he said angrily and then moved them back to the bed, the standing alone tiring him out fast. An apologetic look then formed on his face, guiltily looking down at his hands. ‘I’m sorry for not telling you. I knew the losing my hair was bothering you and it made me feel even worse about it, so I wasn’t sure if you would even agree on me shaving my head. But at this point it just felt like the right things to do. Now I can’t lose it anymore. It’s gone and I don’t have to worry about it. I just hope it won’t be too much for you to handle.’ Carefully blue eyes looked up at him again, measuring his reaction.

And then Sasuke softly sat back on the bed, leaning in for a kiss. ‘Of course it’s not too much. I promised I wouldn’t leave your side, so something like this couldn’t possibly scare me off,’ he murmured, giving Naruto another soft kiss. A happy smile then formed on Naruto’s lips, arms coiling around Sasuke’s neck as he pulled the raven in for another long kiss. Then something hit Sasuke. Something he wanted to finally ask. Leaning back from those addictive lips he looked up at Kiba, an unreadable expression on his face. ‘I was wondering why you weren’t losing your hair like Naruto is,’ he said plainly, expecting an answer to that.

‘Oh, uhh,’ Kiba started out, raising some suspicion from Sasuke. ‘Well, I’m just being treated differently. Different chemo and all since I also have a different kind of cancer,’ he said, scratching the back of his head while he smiled awkwardly. A different chemo? It sounded a little odd, but maybe it was true. Sasuke actually didn’t know much about this cancer thing except when it was about Naruto, so it could be true… Kiba just looked so much better than Naruto, so for his cancer the chemo must be a lot better or maybe Kiba was just almost cured. 

Giving a nod in response Sasuke turned back to Naruto, actually being forced by a tanned hand against his cheek. ‘Weren’t we in the middle of making out?’ Naruto questioned with a smirk on his lips and Sasuke immediately claimed those plump pink lips again, not needing to be asked again. 

The kiss didn’t last long, Naruto too tired to actually do much and soon he was asleep at Sasuke’s side. He had been too late and therefore had missed out on his Naruto time. Yes, it annoyed him… Why had this stupid cancer ever come into Naruto’s life?


	9. Chapter 9

‘What do you mean you’re going home?’

When Sasuke had woken up this morning he hadn’t anticipated on anything like this to happen. He actually had gotten up in a good mood. It was Saturday, so he could sleep in a little and then decided he would do some grocery shopping. No need to hurry to get to Naruto. First the blonde would have some examinations Sasuke couldn’t be part of anyway. Of course he wanted to be there and support his lover as he was treated, but Tsunade would have his ass if he spend any more time there. He had been called an idiot already for not doing anything else with his life. Maybe it was about time to give Neji a call again and see what the brunette was up to…

At the supermarket he just got his usual stuff, tomatoes and some other stuff that he liked and then stopped in front of the noodle section, picking out some ramen that Naruto would love. Of course he wasn’t really allowed to eat it with the strict diet he was on, but Tsunade and Sakura had sneaked in several things that the blonde wasn’t supposed to eat. He was sure they wouldn’t mind it now. Next time he would make some on his own and see if that would taste even better. 

And then he just drove him, put everything away and made the ramen, poring it in some Tupperware. On his way to the hospital he stopped by a flower shop and bought some orange bouquet he knew Naruto would love. 

Sasuke was in a good mood to say the least. Even the drive towards the hospital went smoothly and in the hospital itself he wasn’t bothered by slow walking people or elevators that just didn’t want to come down and actually bring him up towards the right floor. This was just an amazing day and he started to wonder how he had deserved this. Sakura smiled kindly at him as he walked by and then went on with some paperwork. Also quite nice that she didn’t talk to him about something troublesome. 

With a smile on his face he walked in the hospital room, kissed his bald Naruto on the lips and gave him the flowers and the ramen the blonde loved so badly. But Naruto’s attention wasn’t focused on him, which irritated the raven slightly. So his eyes moved along towards Kiba, who was standing next to his bed, in normal clothes, packing a suitcase. 

‘What are you doing?’ Sasuke asked, denying the obvious as long as Kiba didn’t say what he was doing. Maybe asking wasn’t so smart, but he couldn’t be sure. Maybe he was packing for a different reason. So many things could be going on…

The other bald guy in the room turned to look at him, no emotion on his face. Then he focused on the packing again, not wanting to look the other two in the eyes. ‘I’m going home,’ he said simply.

How could Kiba say that as if it was the most normal thing in the world? The dog lover was supposed to be here to support him and he had been such a good friend to Naruto. And what about the fact that he had cancer and should be treated? How could he just go up and leave like that? ‘What do you mean you’re going home?’ Sasuke spat, walking over to the packing patient, snatching some of his stuff back out of thing. ‘You’re sick. You should be in the hospital.’

Angrily Kiba took back what Sasuke had taken out and forced it back in before zipping the suitcase closed. ‘I am going home whether you want me to or not,’ he shot back, taking the suitcase of the bed and settling it beside it, glancing around to make sure he got everything.

‘W-why?’ Sasuke eventually asked, his tone a little sadder than before, his eyes softened slightly as he stared at the person he had been growing closer to over the weeks. ‘Why would you leave?’

A soft sigh escaped his lips, finally meeting Sasuke’s eyes square on. Shifting uncomfortably on his feet, Kiba decided it was time to tell the truth. He had granted Naruto with it already and Sasuke deserved to know as well. ‘I, uh, I’ve been named untreatable,’ he started out, making Sasuke’s heart race in his chest. ‘The last time they did a check they discovered it has spread out through my body. It is not just long cancer anymore.’ Silence settled between them and Sasuke could only stare at Kiba, hoping that this didn’t mean what he thought it did. ‘So now that they can’t do anything for me anymore, I’m going home. I’d rather spend my time there and live my life as happy as I can than rot away in a hospital.’

Sasuke’s lips parted to say something, but he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say. He should give Kiba some support now, but he just couldn’t. The brunette was really leaving him here and letting him deal with this on his own. ‘And what happens there?’ he suddenly said, even shocking himself.

‘I die.’

And there was the last bit of truth. Sasuke knew that it was going to happen. He knew what it meant when cancer was said to be untreatable. Blame all those hospital series they have on TV nowadays. ‘But if you stay here, won’t you live longer,’ he responded, desperation clearly in his voice. He just didn’t want Kiba to leave, because when that happened, he was never coming back. 

‘I don’t care if I live longer,’ Kiba said plainly, a crooked smile forming on his lips as he looked down at the neatly made bed. ‘I-I want to spend time with my family. I want to be run in the fields with Akamaru for as long as I can and I want to see if I can get my crush to kiss me just one time. It’s really all I want out of life now. I know I only have a few months and my last months will be awful, but all my months would be awful if I stayed, knowing I didn’t do more with my life.’

A soft sob came from the corner and Sasuke looked over at a crying Naruto, seeing that his own eyes were shimmering with tears. Why was this happening? Kiba was such a good man and now he would leave life behind and die at a far too early age. 

And then suddenly two arms were wrapped around his shoulders, pulling Sasuke into an unexpected hug. His eyes had widened, but without even thinking about it, he responded, holding Kiba close. ‘I’m sorry for leaving. I know I promised to stay and help you through this, but things changed,’ he whispered. ‘I need to make this decision for me and I know you will pull through this. I know how much you care for the crazy blond kid and you will not leave. Because you will promise me that, won’t you?’

Pulling back out of the hug, Sasuke nodded, a single tear slipping down his cheek. ‘I promise,’ he murmured, keeping his head low to hide his red eyes. 

‘Take good care of Naruto,’ Kiba said sternly, putting his hand on Sasuke’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze before turning around and walking over to the blonde, pulling him into a hug as well. They shared a moment and Sasuke could hear another sob bubbling up out of his lover’s throat. It made Sasuke’s heart clench, closing his eyes to try and ignore this whole situation. Of course he understood why Kiba was leaving, but it didn’t make him feel better about it. He seriously needed the brunette, but now there was just no way. He would not bother him while he was home. His life should be peaceful and he shouldn’t be bothered by questions and help the raven might need. But who was going to support him now?

The two cancer patients parted and gave each other a smile. ‘Good luck with the girl. I’m sure she has been waiting for you to get back home,’ Naruto said to Kiba as he grabbed his suitcase, ready to leave now. 

‘I hope not,’ Kiba admitted. ‘I’ll be fine with just the one kiss.’ With a smile he walked over to the door and then turned around one last time. ‘Take good care of each other. It will make me feel better if I know you two have each other,’ he ended and then with a last wave and a smile he left the room, closing the door behind him softly. 

Complete silence settled in the room, both men just staring in front of them, contemplating life. How could this have happened so sudden? ‘Did you know?’ Sasuke asked softly, looking up at the sad bald guy. In response Naruto just shook his head, lip trembling a little to keep in another sob. ‘Why didn’t he tell us sooner?’ That was the only question now left really and they couldn’t ask him anymore. Why hadn’t Kiba told them? Maybe they should’ve realised. Sasuke had noticed how closed off Kiba had gotten over the last couple of weeks and how he had given such a strange answer about the treatment he was receiving. But you deny these things. You don’t want your friends to die.

‘He wanted to get through this on his own and make his own decisions without having us meddling in,’ Naruto responded. ‘If we had known earlier, we would’ve tried keeping him here. We would’ve searched for something to make him better and eventually he would’ve suffered longer and we would feel guilty for making him go through it all.’ A soft sigh escaped Naruto’s lips as he leaned back on the bed, glancing out of the window to his side. ‘He did this for himself, but also for us. He’ll have a happy end now.’

Silently Sasuke walked over to Naruto and sat down on his bed, pushing him to the side to create enough room for him to be as close as possible. ‘Promise me nothing like this will happen to you,’ he murmured as he kissed Naruto on top of his head, still needing to get used to the hairless scalp. It felt so strangely smooth and hard. 

‘I can’t promise something like that. What if something does happen? I don’t want you to resent me in the end when I couldn’t keep my promise,’ Naruto mumbled absentmindedly. Sometimes it amazed Sasuke how smart the blonde really was. Maybe not book smart, but he understood people somehow. And he was right, Sasuke would be angry at Naruto if he were ever to die and leave him behind. His breath hitched in his throat as he thought of that, not wanting anything like that to happen.

Rubbing his nose against Naruto’s, making the blonde face him again, Sasuke responded. ‘At least promise me that you will not ban me out of your life at any point. You will stay with me till the very end.’

A smile formed on Naruto’s lips as the blue eyes stared up into charcoal coloured ones. ‘I promise,’ he murmured, scooting closer to Sasuke and wrapping his arms around the raven’s neck. ‘And will you promise me that you will support me through everything and stay as close to me as possible. I heard a bed just opened up,’ he teased, trying to make the mood a little lighter. Although it didn’t quite work, the smiles disappearing as their thoughts went back to their leaving friend. 

‘I promise,’ Sasuke answered, leaning down for a kiss and trying to forget everything that had just happened. And Sasuke’s day had started out so good…


	10. Chapter 10

Of course everything had turned to shit ever since Kiba had left. It seemed happiness was not something the lovers could count on at this point. It made Sasuke wonder if Kiba had stayed that everything would’ve been fine, but it was not something he could know for sure. Their friend was never going to come back, so wouldn’t be able to help out and fix things. This time it really seemed like things had fallen apart. Sasuke hadn’t even visited Naruto today. It pained him a little when he thought of it, but it was too late now anyway. It wasn’t like there were visiting hours at eleven pm. So he would just go tomorrow. Maybe. 

At least his friend was here to cheer him up, although he hadn’t seen him in quite some time. Where the hell was Neji anyway? That guy really was the worst friend Sasuke could wish for ever since he got together with his girlfriend. So Sasuke was left alone again, sitting on the couch as the party buzzed around him. 

People didn’t really paid attention to him, too busy in hitting on others that actually seemed interested. Yes, this was Neji’s way of cheering the raven up. Getting him drunk and maybe laid. The laid part was something Sasuke wasn’t interested in, but the drunk part was definitely helping. His mind was foggy and at this point he wasn’t even thinking of why he was angry with Naruto. 

Because the guy was a selfish brat! 

Better get another beer… Or maybe something stronger. Yes, that would be nice. Whiskey or something and Neji was bound to having something like that with his rich uncle and all. And of course it was easily found in the liquor cabinet. Sasuke loved it and took a long gulp, coughing when the alcohol stung a little at the back of his throat. Lovely…

Staggering around the party, he saw many people. Some he knew and most he didn’t, although they did all greet him. He was more popular than he thought. Not that he cared. He cared about no one ever since that stupid blonde had come into his life. Naruto was just way more special than all the others, but why would he, out of all people, screw things up like this? Stupid feelings… Stupid Naruto and making Sasuke feel them. 

Angrily setting the bottle against his lips, forgetting about the glass in his hand, Sasuke walked through the hallway and finally found his so called friend. A stupid horny look plastered on his face as he squeezed the girl’s ass. Horny bastard… This party was supposed to make him feel better and Neji better start giving a shit or else… 

But before Sasuke could even take a step towards his friend, some blond haired bimbo was in front of him. The raven was way too drunk to blow her off nicely, so he glared at her, trying to will her away with everything he had. But of course she wouldn’t budge at all. ‘Sasuke…’ she cooed, letting a finger slide over his chest as if to close the distance. ‘Haven’t seen you in a while.’

Oh, he did in fact know who this was. Did she really need to hit on him now? And now Neji was trying to push his girl towards another room, assumingly the bedroom, and then Sasuke would never be able to talk his friend anymore! He tried getting away from the blond girl, but she would just follow his movements to stay in front of him. So it was time for drastic measures. ‘I didn’t think you would be here, otherwise I would’ve stayed away,’ he said harshly and then started walking into Neji’s direction.

Unfortunately she didn’t take it as an insult, but thought Sasuke was joking. Giggling into her hand she followed after him and hooked her arm into his. ‘Oh, come on. We can get a drink and catch up. I haven’t seen you in so long. What has been going on in your life?’ 

Maybe a different tactic yet again. He stopped walking and glanced down at the blonde girl. She was smiling brightly, head cocked slightly to the side in question. ‘I stumbled upon a lovely blonde,’ her smile widened, thinking it was about her. ‘And ever since then we have been together.’ Her heart started beating fast, thinking he was talking about their future together. ‘And I am very crazy about him, so I think it’s best if we part ways here.’ At the him shock was found on her face and Sasuke left her standing there completely flabbergasted. She had deserved it. And in his drunken state he didn’t care much if everyone would soon find out he was gay. 

His eyes drooping a little, hazing over due to the alcohol, Sasuke tried finding his friend again. Damn that Neji was fast in getting Tenten somewhere alone. But the raven didn’t want to wait any longer. Bottle hit his lips again as he took a long gulp of the whiskey, forgetting all about the burn it left behind as he glared at the couple making out heavily against the bedroom door. How he had gotten up the stairs was still a big question, but the people down below looked very impressed. It must’ve been a great sight then. 

Shoving Neji against the shoulder he finally got the brunette’s attention. Well, at least an angry glare, because the horny bastard wasn’t very happy with being cock blocked. ‘What the fuck is your problem?’ Neji spat and Sasuke just shot him a sarcastic look, putting his arms in his side, or at least trying to. He needed the wall to actually stay upright. And then Neji sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. ‘Fine, Tenten, Sasuke and I need to talk for a moment. I’ll get you soon, alright?’ The girl looked a little pissed, apparently also not very happy about being cock blocked, but Sasuke really didn’t give a shit. The girl stumped down the stairs, leaving the two friends alone. 

‘Damn it, man. You were supposed to support me and shit. That’s why I called you this afternoon. Not get me drunk and then get laid yourself.’ Sasuke wasn’t even sure what he was babbling about, it being very unlike him to actually say something about it, but the booze did it for him. It was amazing what a bit of whiskey could do. So he needed another gulp. He then offered the bottle to Neji, who declined politely, but took the bottle from Sasuke nonetheless. Seemed safer… 

Neji proceeded to push open the bedroom door and motioned for Sasuke to get in. Stumbling towards the bed, Sasuke gladly sat down, his legs feeling a little numb. Lazily he rubbed a hand over his face, trying to wake himself up a little. 

‘So I am here to support you. Now what do you want to talk about?’ Neji said, looking very arrogant and with the hand in his hip… Also a little feminine. The long hair of course didn’t help one bit, but he was also a little thin and his movements to calculated. Neji really was one of those metrosexuals. Even his clothes were a little feminine. The scarf around his neck didn’t help either. 

Now Sasuke really felt like drinking again, silencing his lips. He was forced to answer now that he had no way to avoid it, except for staying silent of course, but he was pretty sure he would be getting a beating for that. ‘You need to tell me that my thing with Naruto is worth all this cancer shit.’ Yes, he had been doubting again, ever since he had caught that conversation between Naruto and Tsunade. Stupid blonde making decisions without him, not even thinking about how it would make him feel.

‘Shit man,’ Neji said, sitting down next to Sasuke and sighing again. ‘I don’t even know the dude really. It’s not like I know what it has been like for you. We haven’t hung out in ages and you expect me to know if this relationship is good for you?’ Relationship… Sasuke hadn’t dared to call it that yet, but it really was a relationship, wasn’t it? And Neji was right about not hanging out anymore. All of Sasuke’s time had gone into visiting Naruto and of course Neji had been too busy with Tenten. But should Sasuke have introduced them or something? Should he have brought Neji along and show how well they went together?

Sasuke stayed silent, glancing down at his hands and thinking it through as much as his mind would let him. It was difficult, because his mind kept wandering of towards the blonde now, wondering about what he would be doing at this moment. Sleeping probably. It was already passed midnight now. The first time Sasuke hadn’t visited him at all in one day. 

‘I think what I have with Naruto is good for me, but the cancer is making this very hard on me.’ He said simply, taking another glance up at Neji. The brunette gave him an uncomfortable smile, unsure on how to reply to that.

Then he felt a hand slapping him on his back, trying to comfort him as best as Neji could. ‘Well, you know what is at stake here. If you think that your time with Naruto now is worth the pain of it all as well, then stay.’ He then shrugged his shoulders, his hand slowly sliding off Sasuke’s back. ‘But I think the fact you hang out with him every single day must say enough.’ With that Neji stood up and walked over to his closet, deciding his shirt wasn’t good enough for the party anymore and picking out another. 

‘I didn’t stop by today,’ Sasuke admitted, suddenly feeling very guilty about it. Of course Naruto felt shitty now as well. Sasuke had always come and had left rather abruptly yesterday after the fight they had. He shouldn’t have left like that and he should’ve have stayed away today either. Another tired hand rubbed over his face.

Turning around in a fresh shirt, Neji buttoned it up, no expression on his face. ‘Well, then I suggest you go there early tomorrow and show that you haven’t left just yet,’ he stated simply and Sasuke nodded in agreement. It was probably the best thing to do. ‘And now that we have gotten that out of the way, I think it’s time you leave this room and let Tenten take your place.’ With that he was pulled to his feet and almost thrown out of the room. Stupid horny bastard. He glared at his friend a little longer, but was then pulled out of his thoughts when a phone rang.

It took him some time and help from Neji to realise it was his and confused he picked it up. ‘Hello?’ he asked, not recognising the number. 

‘Sasuke?’ He heard a very familiar voice asking him, a bit of sadness mixed in with worry. ‘Is that you?’

‘Naruto, how come you are calling me?’ he said a bit dazed, forgetting about not visiting today and just wondering why Naruto was out of his bed and calling him at this point of the night.

It stayed silent a moment longer and Sasuke thought he had all been dreaming it, about to hang up his phone and just continue on with this dreadful party. ‘Uh, hey. Uhm, Sasuke, are you mad at me?’

What kind of question was that? Oh wait, they had been fighting, right? Oh, damn straight he was mad. ‘Yes, I am. You should’ve told me first and we should’ve discussed it and then together we could’ve taken a decision,’ he spat, anger really rising up in his drunken state.

‘It’s my life and I can do whatever I want with it,’ came the steady reply and it annoyed Sasuke even more, but before he could answer back, Naruto spoke again in a much softer voice. ‘I love you, Sasuke.’

‘… I gotta puke.’ And with that the line died and Sasuke ran towards the bathroom, throwing up everything that had been in his stomach.


	11. Chapter 11

With the biggest hangover ever Sasuke made his way to the hospital. It was early, way too early to actually be awake already after the long night he had gone through. He had slept over at Neji's place, mostly because he wasn't able to move anymore after he had puked his guts out and his friend found him in the bathroom. He got scolded at for cock blocking him again, but it wasn't like Sasuke really realised. He had even forgotten about his conversation with Naruto until he had woken up and even now he wasn't sure what they had talked about. Of course about what they had been fighting about, but what else? He felt like he was missing something.

He probably shouldn't be driving in this condition. His eyes were still a bit glazed over and he wasn't sure if he was actually completely sober. But he couldn't wait any longer. He hadn't visited Naruto yesterday and the conversation didn't end well, he remembered that much, since he needed to throw up at that point.

And this damn traffic wasn't helping! Eventually he got to the hospital, causing more troubles on the road than had bothered him by driving recklessly. He was lucky he didn't get to the hospital in a different way, but he made it out alive and even safe. Groaning as he got out of the car he shuffled towards the front door, locking his car somewhere across the parking lot. This probably wasn't the best time to come visit or the right condition, but he was definitely still too drunk to make right decisions. He had just figured that out when he missed the elevator button several times.

Peeking through his black bangs he got out, glaring at Sakura who wisely kept her mouth shut, even if she wanted to scold at him for not showing up yesterday, but she noticed it wouldn't be the right thing at this point.

Finally Sasuke got to the door, the road way too long for the condition he was in. At least he had some determination to get to Naruto, otherwise he definitely would be sleeping still, but he needed to see Naruto and make sure everything was alright. Even after the fight Sasuke wasn't about to stay away. He did remember parts of what Neji had said to him and it helped still. It was worth it. All the pain would be worth it, because Naruto was important.

When he opened the door, blue eyes snapped his way, not having expected anyone this early. But when Naruto noticed it was Sasuke, he crossed his arms over each other and huffed loudly as he looked the other way. Naruto was insulted after how he was blown of yesterday. So Sasuke had to puke after he had said he loved the raven? How disrespectful was that?

And of course Sasuke had forgotten about that and thought Naruto was still mad about the fight they had. So this was not starting out well, because this also pissed Sasuke off. He had every right to be mad at Naruto for what the blonde did!

Grumbling something under his breath Sasuke walked in and flopped down in the chair beside Naruto's bed, rather than sitting on the bed beside the blonde. He sighed softly when he finally got his weight off his legs, stretching them out in front of his body. God, this hangover was the worst and when he closed his eyes, his mind was still buzzing. Nausea bubbling up, Sasuke quickly opened his eyes again and took a deep breath, willing the weird feeling away. Better not throw up in here… Naruto did that enough when he had his chemo.

'So what are you doing here?' Naruto accused, still determined to not look at Sasuke period and making sure the raven knew exactly how unwanted he was at the moment, which annoyed Sasuke even further.

He had come all this way in his damn condition and then he would be chased out by a grumpy Naruto? No way that was going to happen! Not that he could move right now anyway. 'First apologise for not showing up yesterday,' he gritted out, glaring at the back of Naruto's head. 'And then finish the damn conversation we had the day before.'

Of course the first part kind of surprised Naruto, but the second part made the anger only more apparent and quickly Naruto turned around to face him. 'There is nothing to discuss here. It's my life and I will make decisions about what happens here. It's not like you care about me anyway!' That was a strange accusation and how the hell did Naruto even come up with something like that?

Sasuke got up and faced Naruto completely. 'What the fuck is that? How can you say that I don't even care? I fucking come here every day ever since you've been here, except for yesterday, and that makes me not care about you?' He glared hard into those deep blue eyes, challenging Naruto to say he didn't care. How dare Naruto say such a stupid thing? If someone cared about Naruto it was freaking him!

'Because!' And Naruto couldn't say more, suddenly very embarrassed to actually say it out loud. How can someone easily talk about his rejection with the one he had been rejected by, certainly in a tone like this?

But Sasuke took this the wrong way of course, his headache only fuelling his anger. 'Because what?!' he yelled out, almost pushing his forehead against Naruto's, threatening him a little. Naruto actually got a little shy now, his gaze shifting to his lap as he fumbled with his sheets. This even cooled Sasuke off a bit and he slowly stepped back, eyeing Naruto for a moment and wondering why the mood had changed from complete anger to something awkward. 'Because what?' he asked a lot softer and reached for Naruto's hand.

'Because you started puking right after I told you I loved you,' Naruto said in a small voice, shocking Sasuke completely. Naruto had said what? When? Puking? Fuck… He was at a complete loss of words. What should he even say now? Say it back? Say thank you? Yeah, because that worked out great for everyone else. Say nothing at all? Well, that would only really break this damn thing apart. This wasn't a conversation he was supposed to have with this damn hangover! How did he feel about Naruto? It had been the question he feared the most. He liked it better when it wasn't labelled. When he could just say I feel good where we are right now, not knowing where that even was. But he did care about Naruto and every time he actually thought about his feelings, he was very scared, so that meant enough, right?

Slowly blue eyes went up to stare back into unsure black ones, wondering where the answer to that stayed, but Naruto kept his mouth shut, waiting on an answer. He wouldn't say anything, because Sasuke's reaction was too important. Carefully Sasuke opened his mouth and then closed it again, shaking his head as if to rearrange his mind. And then he finally started talking, very slowly and choosing his words just right with many pauses. 'You know I am not very good at expressing myself and… you also know that I have been accused of having a fear of… commitment. But I think that me sticking around for this long should show you that I do care about you… and that I quite possibly do l… l-love you back. But don't ask me for a responds when you want one, because you know that will scare me of. So you are forgiven now, but don't do it again.'

'You love me?' Of course that was the only thing Naruto answered to, saying the exact thing Sasuke told him not to. Annoyed Sasuke rubbed a hand over his face, groaning as he knew he had to answer again, but Naruto beat him to the punch. 'You love me!' he shouted as a statement and then roughly pulled Sasuke down for a kiss, tears stinging in his eyes. Of course Sasuke loved him! How could he have been so stupid? That's why they had fought about the operation and about the decision Naruto had made. Sasuke loved him!

A bit shaky Sasuke pulled back, the kiss awaking something he didn't need awakened right now. They had something else to talk about right now. 'Okay, so we got that out of the way, but we do need to talk about the other thing still,' Sasuke started, shaking his head again.

The hold Naruto had on him loosened a bit and he sat back, scooting over for Sasuke to sit down next to him, which Sasuke gladly did. The conversation would go very differently now than last time when Sasuke had overheard the conversation Naruto had had with Tsunade. Now they would talk about it better instead of yelling and barging out without another word. 'I know you don't agree, Sasuke, but I think this will be my best shot at getting better. You know the chemo is tough on me and it's not doing as much as it should, so I want to try this, regardless the risks.'

Not what Sasuke wanted to hear, but with things like these it was hard to argue. He knew Naruto was right and that the chemo wasn't helping a lot. Of course the tumour had gotten smaller, but there wasn't as much progress as they had anticipated in the beginning. 'But the risk is you dying, Naruto. Tsunade said it was almost forty percent chance you might not make it. I can't… I just can't risk that.' There it was, his feelings out on the table. He couldn't stand the thought of losing Naruto and this operation might just have it end soon. Of course there was a sixty percent chance the blonde would be fine, but those odds just weren't big enough for him.

Naruto sighed softly and a sad expression formed on his face. He knew this was tough on Sasuke and of course Naruto was scared as well. He didn't want to die, far from it, but what if the tumour would be gone right after this? Then he would be going home much sooner than when he would go through months and months of this damn chemo. 'I do want to risk this, Sasuke and as I said before it's my body and my life. I make the final decision. Not even my legal guardian can say something anymore, because I am an adult. And I want you to support me in this, Sasuke. I want you to stay by my side and tell me this all will be alright, because I'm scared and I can't have you be scared with me. You need to be tough and say everything will be alright and tell me that there is a future for me to go to when I get out of here.' Slowly tears were streaming down Naruto's face now, his blue eyes glistening lightly as he searched Sasuke's eyes for the support he needed. For the strong lover he craved for so badly.

Sasuke felt his heart breaking. Through all this time he had not seen Naruto as vulnerable as he saw him now and it hurt. So he nodded slowly, wiping the tears away and then leaning down to capture Naruto's lips in a soft kiss. 'Okay,' he whispered. 'Okay, I will support you and I will tell you stories about our future together, but then you have to promise me that you will make it out alive, because you can't leave me now. So you go through that surgery and you better come out all better and then we go home together.'

This time Naruto nodded and moved closer to Sasuke and there they just hugged for a while. Sasuke still wasn't happy with the decision, but Naruto was right and he didn't want them eventually part because of this. So he would suck it up and they would be happy at least until the operation and after that hopefully for many more years.

'You don't even have a phone here. How did you even call me last night?' Sasuke suddenly mused, glancing around the room and definitely not spotting a phone anywhere and he was sure Naruto didn't have a cell phone here.

Naruto giggled lightly and then whispered as if he had the biggest secret to share. 'I sneaked out of bed in the middle of the night when I knew everyone was gone and no one would check on me for a while and dialled the number you had written down in case of an emergency.' And at that Sasuke could only chuckle softly and kiss Naruto some more, because it was the small things that Naruto did that made him so crazy about the blonde.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the things I said down here aren't right, but I do not really have any knowledge about this. Just a tiny bit and that was what I used!

'How the hell can you let him go through with this?!'

Well, this was a strange start of a lovely afternoon with his boyfriend. Sasuke found himself slammed against the wall of the hallway leading to Naruto's room, green eyes glaring up at him and teeth bared at him as if the redhead was about to rip his throat out. Apparently Gaara was not agreeing with Naruto's decision and blamed Sasuke for it. It wasn't like Sasuke was happy with the decision, but he wasn't going to stop Naruto from making it.

Reaching up for the hand currently constricted around his neck, he lazily pulled it off and pushed Gaara a few feet away, not wanting to be so close to the redhead and his apparent anger. 'It's not like I can force him to make another decision, Gaara. So you can be angry at me, but at this point Naruto needs our support.'

'But you didn't even try!' the redhead accused him, the anger only being fired up again. What was Gaara's problem? Didn't he kind of hate Sasuke or at least not like him? And now he forces him to fix this and stop Naruto from going through with the surgery? Apparently his blonde hadn't been listening to Gaara then and maybe that was why the redhead was so angry now. It wasn't like Sasuke hadn't been angry before, so it wasn't all that strange.

Sasuke sighed softly and turned to the side, proceeding his way towards Naruto's room, but was stopped once again when his wrist was grabbed. Another sigh left his lips and he stood still then. 'I did try, Gaara. We fought about it, yelled stuff at each other we shouldn't have and I stayed away for a full day. But in the end it doesn't matter how we both feel about it. Naruto wants this operation and we should support it. It's already hard enough on him.' Black eyes glanced over at Gaara for a moment, but when he noticed the redhead had released him and was just blankly staring at the floor, Sasuke continued his way towards Naruto's room.

And was stopped again. 'But does he even realise what he's doing? What if something does happen?' He clamped his teeth down together for a moment, trying to calm down. 'I am certain you don't want to lose him, so I just don't understand how you can just let him do this! You can stop him! He will listen to you!' Gaara was really sounding desperate now. Why did this mean so much to the redhead? Naruto could still die even without the surgery. Maybe their time together would be longer, but also filled with more pain and in the end Sasuke didn't really want to see Naruto at his weakest point.

Sasuke was about to respond, but then the door beside him opened, a sleepy looking Naruto stepping out, dragging along his bag of medication. 'You know I can hear you guys or well, I can hear you, Gaara. But I think this is something you should discuss with me in the room, instead of outside of my room. This is still about me.' And with that said Naruto turned back around and disappeared from the doorway, leaving the door open for the other two to enter.

Reluctantly Gaara moved inside, knowing Naruto wouldn't be very pleased with him. Sasuke followed after, walking over to the bed and sitting down in the spot Naruto had left for him. 'Hey,' Sasuke murmured, leaning down for a soft kiss. 'Sorry I'm a little late. Had some extra work and then I walked into your friend on the way over here,' he said with a smile.

'Don't worry about it,' Naruto replied and then looked around Sasuke to meet Gaara's eyes. The redhead was sitting in the chair, keeping his gaze averted at all times. That was until Naruto actually wanted his attention. And the look on his face didn't mean anything good. 'And next time you don't agree with my decisions, I expect you to come to me and not try to get my boyfriend to change my mind, thank you,' he spat, making the redhead cower down and avert his eyes again. Shifting back in his seat, Naruto got comfortable next to Sasuke, grumbling something under his breath.

There hung a tension in the air Sasuke wasn't very comfortable with. He had come here to just spend some time with Naruto and actually not think about the surgery, but Gaara had kind of ruined that moment. Why was he even still here? Usually he would be gone before Sasuke even got here. That was why he thought Gaara hated him!

'Sorry, Naruto,' Gaara said softly, his hands fumbling with the hem of his shirt uncomfortably. 'I just worry about you and didn't seem another way to solve that,' he admitted. Like it was even solved now. Gaara had almost ruined his friendship with Naruto by going behind his back.

If it was something Naruto didn't like, it was people talking about him without him knowing about it, especially when it were important things like these. 'I know you worry,' Naruto said softly, his voice still holding some tension. 'But that doesn't mean you can just decide things for me. I've been taking care of myself for a long time and that won't change now.' He shifted again, almost pushing Sasuke off the bed, but at least his mood seemed to cool down. 'Tsunade will stop by soon and explain some things about the operation since both of you don't know much about it yet. Thought it would be a smart move.'

And it was, or at least in Sasuke's opinion. He had looked up some stuff, but he would trust Tsunade's words a little more. Hopefully she wouldn't go in too much detail, because it wasn't like he remembered how all the parts of a human body were called. 'Thank you. That is considered of you,' Sasuke replied softly and was granted with a big smile from his blonde. At least the mood had changed a little now, because it was definitely making Sasuke uncomfortable.

And then Naruto's attention was back on Gaara, the smile disappearing. Wow, Naruto really was angry at the redhead. Sasuke was glad he wasn't at the receiving end this time, because last time had been horrible enough. Although being angry yourself did help with being scared of an angry Naruto. 'And you better behave, because otherwise you can just leave,' he spat and with that said, Tsunade actually walked in.

She looked around for a moment, taking in the moment and then just shrugged it off. Tapping her file against the bedside, she got everyone's attention, not that it was needed. 'Okay, I don't know what's going on here, but I am just going to explain what is happening to Naruto. Are there any questions?' The three males just kind of stared at her, a bit flabbergasted at the sudden outburst. 'Good! Then we can start. First of all you are both aware that Naruto is suffering from stomach cancer. This means he has a tumour attached to the stomach wall and it needs to be removed.'

Gaara and Sasuke nodded, having heard this before already. But this was also as far as Sasuke's knowledge went. He knew what was going on. He knew the tumour was getting smaller slightly due to the chemo, but that was it. Strange he never had asked more about it, but maybe he was just trying to ignore the whole problem. Now he did need to be aware of the situation, so he was listening intently to what Tsunade had to say.

'Unfortunately the chemo isn't doing as much as we had wanted it to. The tumour is only slightly reacting to it, but not enough. Now the second option we have, and we had discussed this with Naruto before he was taken into the hospital, is removing it through surgery. The problem here is that the tumour is very close to the artery and we have to take it out very carefully. If Naruto loses too much blood, we will lose him. That's why the risks are so high. If the tumour had been somewhere else, it would've been easier and we would've chosen for this option sooner, but now it seems we have no other option.' Tsunade glanced at Sasuke first and then at Gaara, noticing the slightly paler faces.

Slowly Sasuke opened his mouth, eyes averted to the ground as he thought longer about his question. 'How will it happen?' he asked carefully, not wanting to think about the losing Naruto part and all the blood loss that could happen.

'First we will make a small incision right here.' Tsunade had walked forward and pointed it out on Sasuke's own chest and the raven followed the finger as it slid down slightly. 'Then we will open up the stomach itself and take a look at what it really looks around inside. Once we found the tumour and have it clamped down in a vice to stop the blood flow towards it, we burn it off slowly, trying our best to avoid the artery. Once it is out, the place the tumour was in is already burned closed. The stomach will be closed up again and then close the body completely. If everything goes well, Naruto will heal in a matter of days. We will keep him here after that for about two weeks afterwards to see if everything goes alright and when the last tests would come out clean, Naruto could go home. But this is all when everything would go alright, so don't get your hopes up yet,' she warned, tapping Sasuke on his nose and making the hope seep away.

'So do you think you understand now?' Naruto asked, smiling up at Sasuke and taking his hand in his.

Of course he understood what was going to happen now and it all sounded very easy, but he knew it wasn't. You needed good surgeons to be able to do this right. Steady hands that would not accidently cut into the artery and would pull Naruto through alive. Slowly he nodded, looking up at Naruto and giving him a slight short smile. 'Yeah, I get everything or at least the things I should understand.' He then stayed silent for a moment, his eyes moving back down. 'It's just all getting a bit too… real,' he admitted reluctantly. 'Isn't the surgery already in like a week?'

'Next week's Thursday,' Tsunade replied with a nod, making Sasuke wince. This really was going fast. What if this was his last week with Naruto? They needed to do something fun and special, but what could they do? Naruto wasn't even allowed out of the hospital, so he didn't have much room to play with. But this week needed to be special.

A hand squeezed around his, pulling him back to reality. 'I know it's going fast, but I promised I would be alright, so there is no need to worry. I will be out of here before you know it.' Naruto's voice sounded so soft and reassuring that Sasuke just had to believe him. He needed to.

'Naruto,' Gaara suddenly said, standing beside the bed, his eyes still pointed down. 'I need to go. I'll be around again in a few days. I'm sorry.' And with that the redhead disappeared in a hurry and Sasuke understood exactly how he felt. It was all getting too close and having confirmed that Naruto might die by the surgeon herself, made it even worse. So he just needed a moment to himself. Sasuke wanted one, but he should stay here and support Naruto. He would think about all this when he got home. Everything to keep Naruto from stressing.

They watched Gaara go in silence and then Tsunade left as well. 'Just the two of us again,' Naruto said softly, staring at the closed door. 'I kind of like it better like this,' he admitted, smiling up at Sasuke once again.

'Well, once you get out of this damn place, we will have a lot more moments with just the two of us,' Sasuke whispered back and leaned down for a kiss.

'I'd like that…'


	13. Chapter 13

It had caused him a lot of begging and sucking up to the medical staff, but in the end Sasuke was allowed to go through with his date. He deliberately hadn’t asked Tsunade, because she surely wouldn’t agree, but she wasn’t here in the evenings, so that wouldn’t be a problem. It had been Sakura who had made it hard on him. Demanding to know everything Sasuke had planned and if he wouldn’t tell her, she would not let him take Naruto out of his room. Stupid pink haired girl that was too obsessed with romance. Sasuke wasn’t very comfortable with being all romantic and sweet and now he actually had to share these moments? 

Grumbling under his breath, still thoroughly annoyed with Sakura, who happened to be happily trailing along, Sasuke pushed the wheelchair to Naruto’s room. He had done his best to keep the blonde in the dark. He even faked leaving a few hours back, just so this would be a complete surprise. So he hoped this would work. And of course he hoped even more that Naruto would actually enjoy what Sasuke had planned. It wasn’t much, in his opinion, Sakura didn’t agree, but he had done his best. 

Hissing at Sakura to shut up, Sasuke pushed open the door, trying to go in as quiet as possible. He knew chances were big that Naruto was sleeping and he was right. His little bald boyfriend was snoring softly, head titled to the right and eye lids moving slightly as Naruto was falling into a deeper sleep. He looked so peaceful at times like these that it was hard to believe Naruto even was sick. Although Sasuke did miss the bright blonde hair. He kind of loved the rough feeling of it whenever he touched it. 

Rolling the wheelchair to the edge of the bed, Sasuke walked up to him and started giving him soft kisses on his cheek and chin and neck, pretty much every bit of skin he could get his hands on. Then he had to hiss at Sakura again, because she couldn’t stop from sighing lovingly at the sight. Why was that damn woman even here? 

It took a while for Naruto actually to wake up, but it wasn’t rough. Slowly he opened his blue eyes and looked at the source of all the soft touches. A sleepy smile formed on his lips when he noticed it was Sasuke, rubbing his eyes to get a better look. ‘Hey,’ he said, his voice sounding a little rough. ‘How come you’re here?’

Good question of course, but Sasuke wasn’t about to answer that one, at least not directly. ‘Just wanted to hang out with you a little more,’ he said softly, his thumb slowly stroking over Naruto’s cheek. ‘I got permission to go downstairs with you, so would you like to go on a date with me?’ So tacky, but he knew Naruto would love being asked out and he was right, again. 

A big goofy smile was now plastered on Naruto’s plump lips, blue eyes shining in the soft light from the many machines around them. ‘You know you don’t need to ask,’ he responded and then started sitting up. He then noticed Sakura and raised an eyebrow. ‘Why’s she here?’ Good question…

‘Just ignore her,’ Sasuke said a little annoyed and then leaned back, reaching for the wheelchair. ‘I’m going to lift you in the chair, but you need to hold onto the drip-things.’ He pointed at the liquid Naruto was getting through a tube in his arm. It was just water to keep the blonde hydrated, but it still looked a little freaky. Carefully he brought one arm under Naruto’s back and the other under the back of his knees, lifting him up gradually and then slowly putting him down in the wheelchair. Naruto had kept perfectly still, only holding onto his water bag and then they were good to go. 

‘So what are we doing?’ Naruto asked excitedly, but Sasuke just smirked in reply, starting to push him out of the room, into the well-lit hallway. Naruto had to blink his eyes to even adjust to the light and didn’t even notice they had arrived at the elevators already. 

Sasuke glared behind him at Sakura, who was still following them. He kept up the glare as he pushed Naruto into the elevator, picked the button for the right floor and even when the doors closed. At least it made her stay there and not come with them. How stupid would it be to have a third party joining them on their supposedly romantic date? Sasuke still wasn’t confident it was that great. But he had done his best and had worked with the things he was allowed to use. 

Blue eyes focused on the number of floors the elevator went down. He tried to remember what each floor had, but came up blank for most. Not that they stopped there though. How far down were they going? And then the lift stopped and Naruto’s eyes widened. This floor he did know. Deciding to not say a thing, Naruto let himself be pushed outside, eyes going wide when he noticed the many flickering lights on the floor.

‘I was only allowed to place candles here,’ Sasuke whispered, having leaned down right beside Naruto’s ear. ‘I wish I could’ve used more, but they were afraid of the fire hazard it would be.’ And Sasuke continued on pushing, a grim look on his face as he noticed just how little of candles he really had. At least the lights were turned off, so that they showed off the little bit of light they possessed, but you could barely see the outline of a path Sasuke had intended to make. Just two rows of ten candles and that was it. Looked more like a runway for planes. 

While Sasuke was cursing his efforts, Naruto’s eyes were glistening, staring at the candles in awe. It was so beautiful! Leading the way towards something that should be just as special! No one had ever done something like this for him before!

And then the path ended, but Sasuke kept on moving forward and as Naruto could barely make out the outline of a door, a light flickered on. Not the big white lights a hospital normally had, but something far softer and smaller. Surprised Naruto looked forward again and noticed they were in a very empty cafeteria. Only one table was set, right in the middle. 

It wasn’t much, just a round table with a red and white chequered table cloth. A small vase with a single red rose in it and a carton box, contains unknown. But even if it wasn’t much, Naruto had never felt so special. With a soft smile he looked up at Sasuke, wondering how he had ever deserved to have such a loving man in his life. 

Noticing he was being looked at, Sasuke glanced down and seeing the smile, he couldn’t help but smile back. He didn’t say anything, just pushed Naruto forward until they had reached the table, but his heart did flutter. He had done a good job and that was all that mattered. 

Sasuke pushed Naruto right to the edge of the table and then sat across from him in one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs, but right now he didn’t care. Grabbing the carton box, he started opening it, giving no clue on what was inside. ‘A first date usually happens a lot earlier in a relationship, but since we do nothing the way it should go, our first date won’t be normal either,’ he started speaking, slowly lifting a bowl out of the carton box. ‘So our first date is in a hospital cafeteria, which is known for not having the best food. You are dressed in something I truly hope will not be some kind of a fashion statement. And I have only gotten food for you.’ As he finished speaking, he tore of the lit on the bowl and pushed it towards Naruto, shooting him a smirk.

It was then that Naruto could smell the food and his eyes widened. ‘Oh my god, you did not get me Ichiraku’s!’ he said surprised and then quickly started eating the ramen he held so dear. ‘I can’t believe you remembered,’ he said with a mouth full and Sasuke wrinkled his nose in disgust. His blonde did need some manners. 

They just stayed silent now, Naruto enjoying his ramen and Sasuke enjoying the view of a happy Naruto. There was nothing more Sasuke had planned, so he hoped this would be sufficient. That this would be enough to spend some time together. In the back of his mind he still realised this could be their last day together like this, but he shouldn’t think of that now. He should embrace this moment and never let it go. This was special. 

Burping rather loudly Naruto announced he was finished and pushed the bowl away, rubbing over his full stomach. ‘You seriously are the best boyfriend I have ever had,’ he said happily, closing his eyes and leaning back in the wheelchair. This really was an amazing date already. 

Sasuke smiled again, glancing down at the table and feeling his heart flutter yet again. ‘I’m glad you enjoyed it,’ he said softly. ‘This was kind of everything I had planned. But we can still stay here until midnight, so we have about thirty minutes left. I promised Sakura you would be in bed in time again.’ And Naruto did look tired, so he shouldn’t stay up too long anymore anyway, even if Sasuke knew Naruto didn’t want to sleep yet. 

Naruto just huffed in annoyance and then just shrugged, not wanting to stand still at this point for too long. ‘So how come I get this special treatment today?’ he asked curiously, quirking an eyebrow up in question.

‘Because we needed to celebrate the fact that we will be seeing each other a lot more when you come out of your surgery. We can’t do that after you get out. You’ll be way too busy moving into my place then,’ Sasuke responded, his heart clenching at the thought. It was a lie and they both knew that, but it didn’t matter. It was this thought that made them happy. A future to look forward to, together.

A pout formed on Naruto’s lips as he shot Sasuke a sad look. ‘So we can’t even have a party after I move in?’ he asked, making his eyes look bigger by opening them wide and giving him an extra cute look. 

Sasuke chuckled lightly and got out of his chair, moving over to Naruto and leaning forward to reach his blonde. ‘You can have all the parties you want,’ he whispers. ‘As long as they are all with me.’ And with that said he softly kisses Naruto, cupping his cheek and tilting his head a bit to the side. He could feel Naruto softly sighing into the kiss, melting against his lips as he slowly started to respond. The thought of maybe never kissing Naruto again was painful, so he would enjoy it as best as he could now. 

Pulling back he looked into Naruto’s half lidded eyes, seeing nothing but content there. ‘Can’t believe you would kiss on the first date,’ he said teasingly. ‘You do know that this is all a guy is after, right?’ 

Naruto chuckled softly and then slowly looked up into Sasuke’s deep and dark eyes, almost disappearing in the dim light. Not responding to what Sasuke said, Naruto said the one thing he really wanted to. ‘I love you.’

Sasuke was taken aback by that and just stared at Naruto for a moment. But then leaned forward again and just before he was going to kiss the blonde, he whispered. ‘I love you too.’ And with that their date ended, spending their last minutes with lips locked and hearts beating in unison.


	14. Chapter 14

Today was the day of the surgery. Naruto had been thoroughly prepared already and was being wheeled into the operation room. This was where they had to say goodbye, because when they reached those doors. Sasuke felt awful at this point and it was clearly shown on his face. A grim look covered his features and Naruto almost was more worried about him than he was about his own surgery. 

‘Hey, I’ll be fine,’ Naruto murmured softly, a soft smile tugging at his lips. He reached his hand up and let his fingers slide over a pale cheek. ‘I’ll be out before you know it,’ he added, but he quickly noticed it didn’t matter what he would say at this point. Sasuke’s mind was off somewhere else, only thinking in worst case scenarios. 

He had put so much time in this. Had been beside Naruto’s bed since the beginning and thinking that this might all be over in just a few hours was such a strange idea. What would he do with his life then? Now Sasuke had somewhere to go after work and in the weekends. His life hadn’t really mattered before. He had gotten a job at the family company and had worked hard every day to just work his way up and become a manager. He was earning good money and he had a nice house, but it hadn’t meant anything. His life had been boring. Until he had gone to that party and had met a very drunken Naruto. 

Of course at first Sasuke just saw it as a one night stand with a very willing Naruto, but that morning everything changed. When Naruto had told him he had cancer. It was as if he now had a goal in life. He was supposed to take care of Naruto and make him as happy as he could be and Sasuke thought he was doing pretty well. They had even spoken of love. A deeper relationship than Sasuke had ever been in before. And to think now that Naruto might be gone today and they would never share a moment together. What was he supposed to do then? He was never going to love someone like he loved Naruto. He even wasn’t afraid anymore to tell the blonde and that meant so much already.

If this was the end for Naruto, it would also be the end for Sasuke. He would live an empty life again and just live by routine. 

‘We have to say goodbye now, Sasuke. We’re here,’ Naruto said softly, his blue eyes still staring up at the raven. There was no smile on those thin lips anymore, but his eyes still sparkled, holding so much life. But Sasuke couldn’t say anything back, knowing his voice would break if he tried saying anything at this point. Fisting his hands by his side, Sasuke stared down at Naruto. He let out a soft sigh, trying to empty his mind. 

Carefully leaning down, Sasuke hovered just above Naruto’s lips, staring deep into those deep blue eyes. ‘Promise me I will see you in a few hours,’ he whispered. 

‘I promise,’ Naruto murmured back and with that answer in mind, Sasuke leaned down for one final kiss. He tried to put as much feeling in it as he could. Hoping Naruto would feel everything he felt for the blonde. He didn’t want to say it. Because if he said those three little words, it would feel like the end. It would feel like he would never be able to say it again and he couldn’t believe that. He had to believe that Naruto would come out alive and then the first thing Sasuke would say would be those three words. He would say it then. 

And then Naruto was wheeled away, pushed through the doors and then they flipped back closed. Sasuke stared after the blonde, following the bed through the small windows in the doors. Blue eyes kept locked with his. Would this be the last time Sasuke was able to see those eyes look back at him, see them shine just for him? Was this truly the end? 

…

Hours had passed already, but Sasuke knew it would still take some time. He had been sitting in the waiting room, just trying to think of other things. But how could he? The only thing that was on his mind now was Naruto. The good times they shared and how much he would miss those. 

About an hour ago one of the doctors had informed him that the surgery was going well. Naruto did suffer from some blood loss and they almost had complications, but apparently Tsunade had acted in time to stop the bleeding. But it wasn’t the end yet. The tumour hadn’t even been out at that point. So the worst was yet to come. And that idea only made Sasuke more nervous. If something went wrong now, then what did that say about the rest? He shouldn’t think about that. He should keep hope and believe in Naruto’s strength. 

Someone sat down beside him and Sasuke eyed the person through his bangs. It was Sakura and she wore a slight smile, probably as some sort of comfort, but it didn’t really work. She was holding something in her hand and without a word she handed it to Sasuke. 

Folding the letter open Sasuke started reading it. Surprised he looked up at Sakura who was still wearing that smile on her lips. The look in her eyes was soft. But that didn’t explain this letter! Why was this letter here? ‘How?’ he asked, unsure on how to finish that question and Sakura’s smile just grew.

‘I sent him a letter about Naruto, telling him he was going into surgery. This is Kiba’s way of supporting you right now. He would’ve loved to come here and really support you guys, but he can barely move around the house anymore. His time is running out, but he wishes both of you all the time in the world.’ Her face then turned happier. Sasuke found it highly inappropriate, until she said the last line. ‘And he also wanted me to tell you that he finally had gotten a kiss from his crush. He knew you would be proud.’

And that was it. Sasuke’s breaking point. That stupid Kiba wishing them the best of luck and telling him he shouldn’t be as negative as Sasuke always was. Naruto was going to live. Why? Because Kiba said he was. Damn that guy… 

Tears started streaming down Sasuke’s face and soon he found himself pressed against Sakura’s shoulder, soothing words murmured against him. ‘Just let it out, Sasuke. You’ve been through a lot as well. It’s okay…’ And of course that didn’t help. He couldn’t lose Naruto. Clutching Sakura’s shirt, he just let everything out. He sobbed softly, tears slowly running down his face. The idea of people seeing him crying right now wasn’t even important. People knew what could happen in a hospital, so it wasn’t strange to see someone crying. And this was the very first time Sasuke actually let his feelings out over this. 

Slowly the sobs died out and Sasuke was just sitting there, Sakura’s arms still around his shoulders and keeping him close. Somehow it didn’t feel awkward this time. Maybe because Sakura wasn’t hugging him for her own pleasure, but just to be a comfort. So he didn’t mind sitting in her hold and wait on news. 

His mind went back to the letter, it now crumpled up in his hand as it was fisted between his hand and Sakura’s shirt. That stupid dog lover thinking just about them again and not about living his life out the happiest he could. He shouldn’t be thinking about them. He should only have good thoughts. Spend time with that damn dog. But his words still touched Sasuke, even if they weren’t poetic or incredibly sweet. 

Hey guys,  
I heard Naruto was going into surgery. Lucky guy.   
He will come out alive just perfectly fine. Why? Because I say so.  
And you know everything I say, comes true.  
Anyway, good luck guys. I’ll be thinking of you.  
I’ll hear from you soon.  
Love, Kiba

He should write a letter back. He would do that later. Sasuke had never imagined that he would hear from Kiba again and he probably wouldn’t have if Sakura hadn’t sent him a message. Would it be okay to contact him? Well, Kiba was expecting an answer. Of course he wanted to know if Naruto had come out alive. But what if Naruto didn’t? Sasuke couldn’t tell Kiba then. He couldn’t even bare that idea, let alone let someone else suffer. 

He didn’t want to think about this. He had Naruto to worry about and shouldn’t also be worrying about Kiba. It was already bad enough that Sasuke now knew Kiba was doing worse. Not even able to leave the house anymore?! Damn it, this day was truly the most horrible day he had ever experienced. 

…

After a while Sakura left, having work to do, but she would be back later when the surgery was over. So now it was just Sasuke, sitting alone in the waiting room again, worrying his ass off. Pacing didn’t work, he had tried. How long would it take still? He had been here for over six hours now and had to eat that damn cafeteria food, but it wasn’t like it had any taste to him now anyway. Nothing meant anything at this point. The only thing Sasuke was noticing, was doctors walking through the waiting room. Every time he saw one, Sasuke hoped it would be the one to give him the answer he needed to hear. Why did it take so long?

And then he saw her. Naruto’s doctor. Tsunade. She didn’t look very happy, but Sasuke couldn’t remember a time that he had actually seen her smile. So he wouldn’t think anything of it. He just couldn’t think anything of it. Naruto had to live. This could not be the end. It just couldn’t be. 

‘Sasuke,’ Tsunade started out, standing right in front of the raven, hand posed on her hip and some sort air that screamed arrogance lingering around her. She kept silent for way too long and Sasuke really was about to jump to jump out of his seat and just attack her, forcing the answer out of that damn woman as he hit her square in the face. You weren’t supposed to hit a woman, but there were more important things in life. ‘I think someone is waiting on you.’ 

Sasuke’s eyes grew wide and he just stared at her, slowly standing up out of his seat. ‘H-how did it go?’ he asked, because he couldn’t ask the most obvious thing. What if this was just some cruel way of Tsunade telling him that Naruto was waiting on him in the OR, dead… No, she wouldn’t be that cruel, right?

And then for the first time Sasuke saw a smile appear on Tsunade’s pink coloured lips. ‘It went perfectly fine of course, just as expected. I am a great surgeon. Naruto’s all finished up and probably about to wake up in his room, so get to him and be all romantic together and stuff.’

That was all Sasuke needed to hear. He didn’t even thank Tsunade or whatever else he should’ve done in situations like these. He just ran, yes ran through the hospital. He needed to see Naruto. Only then would he truly believe that the blonde had come out fine. 

Slamming the door open and breathing heavily as he stared at the bed at the end of the room, Sasuke was met with two bright blue eyes. ‘Hey,’ Naruto said in a raspy voice and tried to smile, but winced when he shifted his body too much. He looked incredibly tired and his skin was paler than it should, but other than that, Naruto looked fine. He was fine. He was alive. It was all over now. 

Slowly walking towards Naruto, Sasuke got to the bed and stared down at the blonde. And then said the one thing he had promised to say.

‘I love you.’


	15. Chapter 15

Naruto, dressed in something that was apparently still considered as clothing, was ready to go home and Sasuke was very ready to take him there. A big orange sweatshirt hang loosely around Naruto’s body, showing off how much weight he really lost the last couple of months. But Sasuke would be sure he would be filling that shirt up nicely again. No, scratch that. Sasuke would make sure he would get some nice clothes he could fill up perfectly. Orange was not a good colour, ever. Why Naruto loved it so much, was a mystery to the raven. 

Currently Sasuke was pushing Naruto forward in a wheelchair. The blonde was saying goodbye to everyone, acting very cheerful and just overly happy. And that was exactly the way Sasuke was feeling inside. He just wouldn’t show it as much as his lover did. The only sign was that smile on his lips, giving him a softer look than he normally wore. 

It just felt so good to go home and have Naruto to come with him this time. Even after the surgery it had taken two weeks before Naruto was officially declared healthy. His blood was clean and the tumour was successfully removed. He did need a check-up every two weeks now, but he wouldn’t be living in this cold white hospital anymore. Instead he would be with Sasuke and they would be so happy together. Things were really looking up for them. 

‘Make sure you make an appointment with Sakura, Naruto. I don’t want the extra work of calling you and reminding you of it,’ Tsunade said sternly as they passed the woman.

Naruto just shot her a bright smile in response. ‘Of course not!’ he called out. ‘I would never forget such a thing.’ And as he turned to face the front again, a grim look formed on his face. Yeah, he of course had forgotten about that. Sasuke would have to arrange it all apparently. Of course he would force Naruto to go every appointment and remind him of it. His blonde would stay healthy this time. There would be no other outcome. Naruto would stay healthy.

Finally getting to the end of the hallway, they made an appointment with Sakura. Sasuke made sure it would be during a time he could get off of work. He would come along and be a support to Naruto. They would go through this together as they had done with everything else. 

And then it was all over. They were going down with the elevator now and it brought back some memories of their first date together. But this time they didn’t stop at that floor either. They went all the way down and stepped out in the busy hall of the hospital. Such a strange feeling for Naruto who hadn’t been around people for a while. On one hand it felt comforting, but on the other hand it felt like it was swallowing him whole, as if he was disappearing in the mass. 

But Sasuke wheeled him out and now they were outside again. For the first time in months Naruto was out in the fresh hair. Sasuke stopped the wheelchair and put it on its breaks. A nurse was already standing by to retrieve it once Naruto was out. Walking around the chair and standing in front of the blonde, Sasuke extended both his hands and waited for Naruto to grab them. With a smile the blonde gladly took them and was pulled out of the chair, landing right against Sasuke’s chest. Of course he had pulled too hard. 

They just stood there for a moment, in each other’s arms. Sasuke was planning on doing that more often. Have more places where he was allowed to touch Naruto in a loving way. Not just the hospital anymore. Just everywhere where he could. 

‘Shouldn’t we be getting home, Sasuke?’ Naruto said softly, a chuckle lingering in his voice. Slowly the raven retracted his arms, very reluctantly of course. But Naruto was right. They had to go if they actually wanted to do something today. Mostly just settling in of course and maybe have some other kinds of fun… Although he was supposed to treat Naruto with care and he couldn’t put the blonde under too much pressure. He was still recovering from the surgery. 

Taking Naruto’s hand in his, they started walking towards his car. ‘Yeah, yeah. Just enjoying our moments together,’ he mumbled, unlocking the car with his remote to notify Naruto that was his car. Maybe he had remembered, but it wasn’t likely. 

‘I think we have other moments to enjoy,’ Naruto said sweetly wrapping an arm around Sasuke’s waist instead of holding his hand and looking up at the raven. ‘Like driving home together, cooking dinner together and of course sleeping together.’ The double meaning to the last part was clearly heard by Sasuke and his eyes immediately moved over to Naruto’s face. 

The teasing smile there said enough. ‘Hn, I think we should hurry on home then and enjoy those moments.’ Smoothly he opened the door and practically threw Naruto inside, because now he certainly wanted to go home. His body was buzzing at this point. But would he have to wait until they were actually going to bed or would they just start immediately? Oh how Sasuke wanted the latter. 

Getting in the car himself, he sped off, the need to get home even bigger now. But of course everything was against them. Traffic lights, train tracks and even some road work were stopping them from getting home. And now they were simply stuck, in this damn traffic. Saying that Sasuke was annoyed, was an understatement and it cracked Naruto up. The twitching of the perfectly sculpted raven eyebrow. The eyes closed in annoyance when a car cut him off again. And then of course the tightening of hands around the wheel, the knuckles turning white in the process. It was just very enjoyable for Naruto. 

‘Relax a little, man. We’ll be home quick enough. Can’t we just talk a little or something?’ Maybe it was better for Sasuke’s heart to just calm down. Even if Naruto enjoyed looking at his lover and seeing the stress moving through Sasuke’s body. 

Sasuke glanced out of the corner of his eyes at Naruto, not really feeling like responding to that. He rather just curse at the traffic around him in his head and wish they would all just vanish. ‘What do you want to talk about?’ he asked in a monotone, knowing he would otherwise answer with a sneer. But it wasn’t Naruto’s fault that this was all happening now. This was just supposed to be the perfect day. They were supposed to be home by now and enjoy living together. Sasuke wanted this day to be special, just like their date had been. But now they would be home late and they wouldn’t be able to do anything special. Naruto still slept rather early, needing the sleep to recover faster. 

A hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing it softly in reassurance. ‘If you make a right here, we can get some Chinese take-out. Then we don’t have to cook and can just relax on the couch as we watch some random show on TV,’ he offered in a soft and relaxing voice, making Sasuke visualise that moment together. It was a good idea really. So Sasuke made the right turn, cutting off all those assholes that had done it to him before. Payback, bitches. 

Naruto insisted he would get the food while Sasuke waited in the car. Why Sasuke had no idea and he didn’t like it at all, but he was practically forced to stay there. Naruto really just wanted to do something like this on his own and shake off his dependence. He didn’t want Sasuke to baby him and it wasn’t that hard to get take-out. Hopefully though he would pick the right food Sasuke actually liked. 

And of course Naruto made it back safely, with two bags of food. It seemed like quite a lot and Sasuke wasn’t sure where Naruto was going to leave it all. But he wouldn’t question it and gladly put some leftovers in the fridge. Like one of those entire bags. 

‘So what did you get?’ Sasuke asked casually, pulling out of the parking lot and getting back on the road. Surprisingly it wasn’t that busy anymore. Now they could get home easily! Would Sasuke’s death wish have come true and everyone just vanished? That was a very pleasing thought…

Naruto shrugged his shoulders in responds and opened one of the bags. ‘Just a menu and then some more stuff. Also I got some fortune cookies. Thought it would be fun.’ He smiled cheekily at Sasuke, sticking out his tongue when he noticed the raven rolled his eyes. Sasuke did think it was a nice gesture, but fortune cookies always had the lamest sayings in them. Sometimes they almost looked like a horoscope or something like that. It just wasn’t Sasuke’s thing really…

‘Well, I hope you got as some nice dinner then, because I don’t want to eat something disgusting,’ he answered plainly and saw the blonde huff and cross his arms in front of his chest. But Naruto couldn’t keep from smiling when the smell of the food wafted up and the heat in his lap was keeping him nice and warm.

Before they knew it, Sasuke was already pulling into the driveway, the ride home going as fast as he had planned originally. It really was only a twenty minute drive, but they did it in over an hour now. Not that weird that Sasuke was annoyed, right? 

They both got out. Naruto was out before Sasuke could even think about helping him, but Naruto wanted to do it all on his own. So he carried the bags to the door and then waited impatiently until Sasuke finally opened the front door. He didn’t really want to admit it, but he was growing tired and he didn’t want to walk anymore. His body was aching for Sasuke’s soft couch where Naruto would just relax in the raven’s arms and slowly ate his dinner. It was just the perfect vision Naruto had on this moment.

‘If you put everything out on the table, then I’ll get us some plates,’ Sasuke ordered as he took off his shoes, walking through the hallway towards the kitchen afterwards. He just assumed Naruto still remembered where his living room would be from the last time he had visited. Which was a very long time ago and still quite a good memory. It was where it all had started. ‘Do you want something to drink?’ Sasuke asked as he eyed the fridge, noting he really didn’t have much. Tomorrow they probably should go out for grocery shopping and of course getting Naruto’s stuff from somewhere. Where was it all anyway? 

Almost everything was now set out on the table when Sasuke called towards him and Naruto glanced up from his task, blinking as he thought about that. What did he want to drink? ‘Do you have any milk? I haven’t had in such a long time. That stuff at the hospital was disgusting.’

A chuckle rose up from the kitchen, knowing exactly how horrible everything at the hospital had been. Naruto was going to eat like a king here, even if it wasn’t that special. Everything was better than the stuff they served at the hospital. ‘Yeah, I got some. Sit down and I’ll be there in a minute.’ And Sasuke didn’t need to say that again. Naruto flopped down and sighed softly, glad he was allowed to sit again. He really had no energy anymore, but what did you expect? He hadn’t moved much in the past couple months. Slowly he would need to work on his fitness again. 

After another moment Sasuke finally came out of the kitchen carrying two plates on his arm and two glasses in each hand. Something he had picked up when he had worked as a waiter so long ago. Just a distant memory now. He settled everything down and sat down beside his lover. Slowly Naruto opened his eyes and looked to the side, smiling when their gazes met. 

‘Food’s ready,’ Sasuke said simply and turned away, bending forward to scoop some of the food onto his plate, but was stopped when Naruto suddenly spoke up. 

‘Can we start with the fortune cookies?’ he asked excitedly and with another roll of the eyes, Sasuke just let him. Ignoring that Naruto grabbed one of the two and broke it open, the cookie crumbling to pieces in his hand and mostly landing on the floor. Great, Sasuke would have to clean again… ‘Aw, this one is cute,’ Naruto announced and shot Sasuke a loving look. ‘Love conquers all.’

Such a sappy saying. It was sweet and sort of had a meaning for them, but still it made Sasuke just roll his eyes. It was just such bullshit. Reluctantly he then reached for his own and broke it open. The message kind of surprised him, but he didn’t want to show Naruto that, so he said something entirely different. ‘Hn, it’s one of those help messages from the people in the factory.’

‘What?!’ Naruto called out and started reaching for the paper slip. ‘No it’s not!’ And when he caught Sasuke’s hand and actually got a look, he smacked the raven against his chest. ‘Liar! I thought someone needed our help!’ He gave Sasuke another push and then it just turned into something of a careful wrestling match where Sasuke eventually managed to capture Naruto’s lips in a kiss. 

How strange was it that he had gotten a message like that? So fitting and yet a little terrifying as well.

“In sickness and in health. Till death do us part.”


	16. Chapter 16

The evening had been rather short since Naruto was just too tired to stay up any longer and Sasuke didn’t want him to go to bed alone. But first the raven got his lover into the shower, thinking he would appreciate it. Naruto hadn’t had a normal shower in months, so this must be a lovely change. And of course Sasuke saw this as a moment to join him as well. Washing his back, his hands sliding places he really shouldn’t be touching right now and kissing, a lot of kissing. 

So it wasn’t strange that when they finally had found their bed, they were both very turned on and Naruto even found himself completely prepped already. Even if he was too tired to actually do something, he couldn’t help but respond to those soft touches, luring him in more and more. And Sasuke was so gentle with him. Helping him walk towards the bed, his legs almost giving out already as he was that tired. Carefully help him lay down on the bed and then slowly laying down next to him. But what would happen next?

‘Do you still want to continue?’ Sasuke murmured into Naruto’s ear, his hand sliding up and down Naruto’s stomach, teasing the soft blond hairs right above his crotch. Of course Naruto wanted this, but wouldn’t it hurt? He still was recovering and his stitches did feel a little sore still. But with the way Sasuke was touching him, he couldn’t say no. So he nodded slowly, his blue eyes blinking lazily as he stared up at the raven. ‘Okay, then go lay on your side,’ Sasuke said softly, pushing him up softly and turning him slightly. He then shifted closer until his erection was pressed against Naruto’s butt cheeks, letting the blonde know what the position would be. ‘This way you won’t really have to move and you won’t feel the recoil of my thrusts much. So just focus on the pleasure of it and when it hurts, please tell me.’

And with that said, Sasuke spread Naruto’s ass cheeks and slowly started pushing in, a groan spilling from his lips. It had been so long since they last did this and they hadn’t really done this a lot in the first place, so it still all felt so new and tight. 

Naruto shivered, trying to keep his body as still as possible, but god did it feel good to be filled like this again. Of course it still stung, but he had been through far worse. Waking up after the surgery had been the worst. The morphine hadn’t kicked in just yet. So he could handle this. As long as Sasuke would go slow and soft and make him feel wonderful. 

One arm was pushed under Naruto’s neck and the other wrapped around the blonde’s waist, pulling him as close as possible as Sasuke slowly started to thrust in and out. The raven laid his head on top of Naruto’s, their breathing evening out as they both relished in the feeling of the other. It may take a little longer when they moved so soft and slow, but the tingling feeling still spread through both of their bodies. This was not just having sex, this was really making love, or at least that is what Naruto thought of it. He was never treated this way before and he still liked it a little rough and hard sometimes, this was definitely a welcoming change. He just felt different. As if they really became on. That sounded way too sappy though.

Lips were pressed against his collarbone, kissing a path over Naruto’s shoulder and neck and then stilling when a soft groan spilled from Sasuke’s lips. His thrusts were shallow, keeping himself inside as deep as possible to not shake Naruto’s body too much when he pulled out, but those walls kept clenching around him, making Naruto even tighter than he already was. It felt good and he wanted to move a little faster, but all in good time. He would keep Naruto by his side, so he planned on doing this a lot more. He could be patient and this still felt really good. 

Blue eyes were closed and Naruto let out soft breaths, moans mixed in from time to time. He just felt so incredibly loved and he couldn’t move, didn’t want to move, afraid he would lose this. And then suddenly a hand was wrapped around his hardened length, pulling a breathy moan from his lips and making him flinch when his stomach hurt a little. But it just felt too good to stop doing this. And Sasuke’s hand moved just as he thrust in, so it wasn’t that bad. And he really wanted this, he wanted to come. 

A tanned hand gripped the sheets tightly, his orgasm creeping closer and closer as Sasuke swiped his thumb over the head of his cock, teasing the underside is his hand slid down again. And then still his own hardened length deep inside of him, stretching him, filling him, massaging his walls in the best way possible. And it had been such a long time as well, so it wasn’t strange he couldn’t keep it in any longer. He just had to come, right now. With a choked out moan, his body thrusting up into Sasuke’s hand he came, hissing when it caused his stomach to hurt again. But it didn’t matter, his body felt amazing, tingling with the aftermath of his orgasm as he fell limp against the bed. Breathing heavily he laid there on the bed, surprised when Sasuke suddenly pulled out and leave the warmth of his body.

Turning around to face Sasuke, Naruto saw that his lover was now jerking himself off, his dark eyes roaming over the blonde’s naked body. ‘Why are you doing that?’ Naruto questioned tiredly, snuggling close to Sasuke again.

‘Because I didn’t want you to hurt even more,’ Sasuke replied plainly, a soft groan escaping his lips as he thrust up into his hand. But that wouldn’t do for Naruto. Sasuke had made him come, so he would make the raven come as well. So he slid his hand down over Sasuke’s stomach towards his goal, pushing the raven’s hand away and taking over the task. A bit surprised Sasuke wanted to move away first, but slowly relaxed, gasping softly when Naruto squeezed his length. ‘You don’t have to do this,’ he said softly, blinking his eyes lazily. 

Naruto leaned over for a kiss, smiling against Sasuke’s lips. ‘But I want to.’ And with that he claimed Sasuke’s lips once more, feeling the raven respond passionately when Naruto moved his hand up and down a little rougher, picking up a steady pace. It wasn’t long before Sasuke also came, groaning harshly as he spilled his cum all over his abdomen and Naruto’s hand. 

They stayed there in silence for a moment longer, just staring at each other as Sasuke tried to catch his breath. They had both felt the difference between this time and other times they ever had sex. Sasuke certainly had never felt like this before. Slowly a smile creeped up on his lips, making Naruto respond with an even brighter one.

‘I’ll be right back,’ Sasuke suddenly said, jumping up out of bed and disappearing into the bathroom. Coming back with a wet washcloth, he cleaned up himself and after that also Naruto, making sure there wasn’t anything left of their love making. It was time to finally rest and with the way Naruto kept closing his eyes, it wouldn’t be long before he actually fell asleep. 

Uncaring Sasuke threw the cloth to the side and crawled into bed again, throwing the sheets over both of them and tugging the already sleeping blonde close, his arms wrapping around him, his dark eyes drooping as well as sleep took over.

…

Naruto had no idea what time he wake up at, but he did know that Sasuke was already out of the bed and too much light was filtering through the curtains. Must be pretty late then… But he did feel a lot better this morning. Sasuke’s matrass is so soft and it feels so nice… He snuggled in a little deeper, but figured he should really get out and see where Sasuke was. So slowly he crawled towards the edge of the bed, not feeling like to put more effort in it and stepped out. Searching through the room his eyes eventually fell on Sasuke’s robe. That would be perfect since he didn’t have his clothes here yet. 

Climbing down the stairs the smell of food hit him pretty soon and quickly he made his way to the kitchen, seeing Sasuke behind the stove and stirring in a pan. No idea what he was making, but it smelled delicious and Naruto soon found himself standing right next to Sasuke, looking down into the pan. Bacon… Eggs… Sausages… Toasted bread… This looked pretty good. 

‘I wanted to bring you breakfast in bed, stupid,’ Sasuke said, bumping him lightly with his hip. 

Naruto just rolled his eyes and then wrapped his arms around Sasuke’s waist, probably bothering him a lot while he was still cooking. ‘Morning to you too, bastard,’ he said sweetly, leaning up for a kiss once Sasuke looked over at him.

A soft smile formed on Sasuke’s lips just for a second before he focused on stirring again. ‘Go take a seat at the bar. Dinner will be finished soon.’ He pointed towards it with his spatula, everything already plated out for Naruto as if he had been expected. Breakfast in bed my ass… ‘Do you want coffee?’ Sasuke then asked, turning off the pan and putting everything on the plate in front of Naruto. He really would have enough to last until dinner or something. Sasuke had seriously made way too much. 

‘Can’t have coffee. It will upset my stomach. I can’t have too much bacon either, but let’s just forget about that for a moment,’ Naruto said with a wink and Sasuke just rolled his eyes and placed Naruto’s medication in front of him. 

‘Then at least make sure you take these. Tsunade said you need them. And you’ll get milk,’ Sasuke stated, placing the glass in front of him. He was certain Naruto would otherwise have forgotten about his pills, but he did need to take them. The surgery had done enough to his stomach and couldn’t quite digest everything yet. This just made his stomach a little calmer and not have acid irritate the wound. It really wasn’t the most pleasant thing. 

Sitting down next to Naruto after he was done cleaning the kitchen and made everything tidy again, he started stealing food off the blonde’s plate. It wasn’t like Naruto could eat it all anyway and he was hungry as well. Bacon was much better for his stomach anyway and what about those fried tomatoes. Delicious… 

Dark eyes moved over to Naruto’s face, studying him for a minute and seeing the happy smile curling around his lips. At least he was very satisfied with what Sasuke had cooked for him. ‘So where are your things exactly? I only have a few days off, so we need to get them today if we want to get you settled in before I have to get back to work,’ Sasuke asked casually. He was exactly pretty curious since they hadn’t talked about this yet. Never once had he wondered where Naruto was going to live if it hadn’t been for him. He had always just thought Naruto would come home with him, but that couldn’t have been the original plan. 

Mouth filled with food Naruto looked up at Sasuke, blue eyes blinking at him in confusion. As if he had forgotten where his things were. ‘Oh!’ he called out, spitting half of what was inside his mouth out. ‘It’s at Gaara’s place. I had my own apartment before, but obviously couldn’t keep it as I was staying in the hospital, so Gaara agreed he would look after it and that I could stay with him once I got out.’ He took another bite of food, taking his sweet time over eating it before he noticed the raised eyebrow. ‘Yes, Gaara knew plans had changed,’ he said with a roll of the eyes. ‘Although he wasn’t very happy with the fact that I moved in with you. But that doesn’t matter. We can get my stuff from there and move it into your place. I don’t have much furniture anyway, so it’s mostly clothes and other things.’

This didn’t sit right with Sasuke. Why wouldn’t Gaara think it’s okay for Naruto to move in with him? ‘What are Gaara’s objections?’ he asked casually, taking another piece of bacon off Naruto’s plate. 

‘I don’t know. Something about how you didn’t know me as well as he did and how he didn’t trust you or something. I usually tune him out once he starts ranting over my life. He’s quite protective.’ It didn’t seem to bother Naruto at all that Gaara was acting so strange. Maybe he would force Naruto to stay with him now that he had his stuff over there. Sasuke just wasn’t comfortable with this whole situation and something told him that this wasn’t going to end easy. Not when two personalities clashed over protecting Naruto. 

Sasuke already had Naruto, so he didn’t want to fight all over again.


	17. Chapter 17

When they finally got there, the mood had not been good. Naruto mostly just ignored it, but as soon as the front door opened and green eyes locked with black it was over. Both males were annoyed for whatever reason. They had not spoken a word to each other, but decided to mostly grumble under their breath as Naruto shifted through his stuff. 

The blond was mostly happy for having all his things back and was squealing with every fun thing he found. His old comics, his favourite blanket and ramen? Apparently Naruto had some ramen stored in his old home and forced Gaara to save it. He wasn’t even allowed to eat it himself. Typical… And still it made Sasuke rolled his eyes. Seriously, how far did the guy’s loves go for ramen? Didn’t he know they call it students’ food, because they can’t afford anything else? It’s not even healthy! Really Sasuke would teach Naruto to like other foods. He was taught to eat different things and tended to keep it all very healthy to stay in shape. But at this point Naruto was so thin, he could eat whatever he wanted. 

Gaara had mostly been silent. Just pointing out Naruto’s stuff and then watching from a distance as Naruto went through it all. Sasuke did the same, but then from the other corner of the room. It was as if they both were keeping an eye out, finding the other dangerous or something. Sasuke knew they were never going to be friends. They just didn’t get along. Somehow they just clashed and it all was because of Naruto. They both cared too much about the guy, but who wouldn’t? His bright personality pulled everyone in, even Sasuke who had been called cold-hearted. 

But there was just something that Sasuke didn’t trust about all this. He knew how he truly felt about Naruto. He really loved the guy, could even say it now, even if it was hard at times. At least he could admit it to himself. But how did Gaara feel about Naruto? They seemed to be very close friends and Naruto had been planning on moving in with the redhead. Gaara also wasn’t very happy with the fact that Sasuke was now together with Naruto. To him it was just all a little vague and of course his mind soon started wandering off to a whole other idea. 

What if Gaara had similar feelings for Naruto? Had been planning on getting together with Naruto when he got out of the hospital? What if it was Sasuke that was now screwing up his plans? 

Glancing up to the redhead and narrowing his eyes, Sasuke eyed him suspiciously. It wasn’t such a strange thought. Maybe Gaara was in love with Naruto. But what would the redhead do now? Apparently he was already talking about Sasuke to Naruto and how he wasn’t good enough for the blonde. Of course Gaara had no proof for this. He didn’t even know the raven. If Sasuke was right Gaara didn’t even know what kind of work he did or who his family was. If anyone could take care of Naruto it was him. But that might just be Sasuke’s opinion of course.

Suddenly a large book was raised up into his line of sight and apparently he had missed Naruto ranting about something and wanting to show him this book. With one last glare directed at Gaara he then focused on his boyfriend and watched as Naruto flipped through the pages of what happened to be a photo album. The baby pictures of little Naruto crawling around and nibbling on a small green frog. Childhood pictures with a smiling eight year old Naruto running after a soccer ball. Graduating from high school and getting his diploma. Of course he fell down on the podium they had to get onto. They were nice memories and it bothered Sasuke a bit that in every picture he also saw Gaara. Even in the baby pictures he could see the very recognisable red hair sticking out. 

But he smiled nonetheless at Naruto when they had seen everything and the blonde had finished telling his stories. That was until he noticed that Gaara had joined them and had been glancing through the pictures with them. Shared moment gone… It annoyed Sasuke, because Gaara knew the pictures already and it wasn’t like he commented on it or anything. He just stepped back once the book was closed again and looked at the pile of stuff they still had to go through. 

Sasuke focused on it as well, glancing through all the crap that Naruto had. Where was he even going to leave it all? His house was pretty big, but he also owned a lot already. The furniture was the biggest problem. ‘Is there something you think you can throw out?’ he asked casually, because he didn’t really want to tell Naruto to get rid of stuff. It was terrible enough that he had lost his own home and this was all that was left of it. There probably had been a lot more, but Naruto had already gotten rid of a lot. Like his bed… There was no bed… Where would he have stayed if Naruto had decided to live here? Once again he eyed Gaara suspiciously. 

Naruto let out an audible sigh as he stared at his stuff. ‘Well, I guess most of the chairs and stuff can go. I’ll just keep the personal things and something else that I know you’re going to hate, but I’m not budging on this,’ he said with a grin. Sasuke was already very afraid of what this could be. In his mind he saw this big statue of a ramen cup that needed to be in the centre of the room or something. Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s hand and started pulling him to another room of Gaara’s house were apparently this thing was. ‘I want to keep…’ And then he opened the door and it was something that was very hard to miss. ‘That orange beanbag and I think it will look perfectly in your living room!’ No, no it would not. It would look horrible. The colour, the shape, the fact that it was a beanbag. Everything about it was wrong. 

All Sasuke could do was stare at it and that of course made Naruto laugh even more. It was coming to his home and at this point Sasuke couldn’t deny him anything. And it was only one of his pieces of furniture, meaning he was leaving a lot behind, so Sasuke couldn’t really complain. But why this thing? Just to spite Sasuke? No, Naruto wasn’t that cruel, but damn it certainly was… something. 

‘I promise that is the only thing,’ Naruto said, his laughter finally dying out. ‘The rest of your stuff is way too good to be replaced with my things, but this beanbag has stood by me in very rough times. When I was very hungover. When I had a one night stand that I didn’t really want in my bedroom.’ Insert a look from Sasuke. ‘And also at the beginning when I first got diagnosed with cancer. It has been through a lot,’ he ended with a fond smile. It was strange that such an ugly thing could hold this much meaning. Now Sasuke couldn’t even think of getting rid of it.

Rubbing his forehead tiredly Sasuke finally responded. ‘It will look great in the living room.’ And with an ecstatic smile Naruto flung himself around Sasuke’s neck and hugged him close, murmuring things about how grateful he was and he wouldn’t let Sasuke regret a thing. In his mind Sasuke made sure to keep Naruto to that. 

…

A few hours had gone by now and Naruto had gotten really tired. Of course he had overexerted himself and had carried way too much stuff to the car. At least they were almost done, but Sasuke had forbidden Naruto from doing anything more, so he was now sitting in the front seat and just lazing around, watching Sasuke and Gaara carry stuff to the car and measuring everything out. The car wasn’t that big, so they might need a second trip, but Sasuke really wasn’t in the mood for that. Especially not now that he had to spend more time with Gaara, alone. 

They hadn’t said a word to each other, but the mood was even worse than before. Annoyance was radiating of both of their bodies and they made sure that when one was in the house, the other was outside by the car. It was a good arrangement really, but it was over soon once they had to get the beanbag in the car. They had to carry the thing together or at least stuff it in the car together. 

So first they were alone in the room with the thing and with the look Gaara gave it, he seemed to hate it just as much as Sasuke was going to. But now they both just stood there, because they were actually very reluctant to carry the thing together. Eventually they just both grabbed a side and started walking towards the door and down the stairs. Sasuke had the front and Gaara had the back, so Sasuke couldn’t look at Gaara and this was the point where the redhead decided to speak his mind. 

‘I’ll have a room ready for Naruto once you have enough of him, so don’t worry. You can just drop him off by the end of the week.’

Sasuke completely stilled, even if they were in the middle of the stairs and it wasn’t the easiest place to stand still. But he didn’t care, wasn’t even focused on it. How dare Gaara say such a thing? How dare he even think such a thing? He had never felt so insulted. It was probably a good thing he was holding the beanbag, because he would’ve punched Gaara square in the face. He would’ve made sure that Gaara never had such an absurd thought again. So it was a miracle he stayed this polite. 

‘No need. Naruto will stay with me and I’ll take good care of him, so don’t put in such effort. I will make sure he will be as happy as he can be. No one can make him happier than I can.’

You could almost feel the tension as they now walked towards the car and even Naruto’s eyes widened as he saw the look on Sasuke’s face. They hadn’t really fought, but there was some kind of cold war between them. How to fight of the other? 

But all this just proved Sasuke’s suspicions. Gaara was interested in Naruto. That’s why he wanted Naruto to live with him and that was why he had never approved of Sasuke. And all Sasuke now wanted was the guy to fuck of and never show up again. 

Finally the beanbag was stuffed in the car and that was when Sasuke was done. The rest of the stuff would come later. They had the most important things now anyway. Without a word he stepped into the car and slammed the door closed. Naruto at first didn’t know what was happening, until he felt the car moving. He yelled at Sasuke to stop, but he was being ignored. So eventually he just waved after Gaara a bit confused. He knew something had happened between the two, but it being this bad? What the hell was going on and why couldn’t they just get along? Didn’t they understand that they were both important to him and that he needed them in his life?

Gaara never responded to the wave, just watched them leave with a blank expression on his face. Sasuke had seen it in the rear-view mirror and it angered him even more. So many signs for Gaara liking Naruto and of course the blonde had never even noticed…

But Naruto was his and he was going to stay his.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little shorter and Naruto's POV this time!

The mood had not improved once they had gotten home. Naruto had kept his mouth shut on purpose, not wanting to deal with this weird angry vibe he got from Sasuke. He was sure he had done nothing to anger Sasuke, but in all honesty, he didn't know the raven that well. During those months together it had always been about him. Naruto had been the point of every conversation they had, even if it had been silly likes and dislikes. Of course he had asked his questions, like what kind of job do you have or do you have any siblings, but it had always been plain answers. Never a good story attached to it.

And now that it wasn't all about Naruto anymore, he often caught himself wondering. Were there things he didn't know about Sasuke? There must be plenty actually. Somehow Naruto felt himself craving all the information, needing to know what kind of life Sasuke had before all of this had happened. Before they had ever even met.

Many would now think that Naruto was only attracted to Sasuke, because of the way he was cared for. But that wasn't the case. There was just something about the raven, something that kept pulling Naruto in. Naruto had wanted to fight at some point, had wanted to push Sasuke away, but he couldn't. And now being able to wake up to Sasuke's face every morning was the most incredible thing that had ever happened.

Naruto's life had never been easy and the cancer was just the cherry on top of everything. When he was first diagnosed somewhere he had been grateful. It may sound silly, but it felt like it was finally over. If he would just not fight the cancer, he would have died fast and then all of his problems would've disappeared. A weird easy way out it seemed.

But of course Gaara had told him to fight, showed how much he cared for Naruto and the blonde had cheered up a little, sort of. More like got drunk at a party and made some stranger have sex with him. Thank god that stranger had been Sasuke. Vaguely Naruto remembered that Sasuke didn't seem like the kind type at all and that had been the very reason why drunk him had gone for the guy. No strings attached. Apparently there had been. All in a good way of course. It still had been the best decision Naruto had ever made and it had changed his life.

Sasuke knew what Naruto's life was like before all this. The raven had asked and of course Naruto had just told him everything. Not that he did that with everyone, but when those dark eyes stared at you, you just had to do whatever Sasuke told you to do.

So the long story came out on how Naruto had lost both his parents in some kind of weird car accident where they had both protected him, which caused them to lose their lives, but for Naruto to stay unharmed. Then there was foster care where he had met Gaara and his siblings and soon the two got very close.

It took years before some kind of relative showed up and took Naruto out and even after that the blonde rarely saw him. So he had mostly been on his own. Gaara's sister was eventually old enough to take care of both her little brothers, so they stayed with her and they saw each other less and less. It had been a lonely time for a teenaged boy. Naruto didn't have many friends, even in high school no one really took notice of him. But he might've done that all by himself. He was the weird kid that needed too much attention. At that point he didn't see the difference between bad attention and good attention. He just wanted it.

Eventually Naruto found his way out of some dark patches in his life and attended college. He got himself an okay job that paid enough for him to get his own apartment, even if it didn't look too great, and he had done okay again. Accept he still felt alone. Even now that Gaara lived closer by and stopped by more often. It didn't matter. The guys he had dated hadn't helped either. They all left anyway and Naruto told himself that was all people really did. They leave.

His parents left, his caretaker left, Gaara left, but he was still waiting on Sasuke to leave. Every day he would wake up and think that Sasuke wouldn't come back and he told himself he would be okay with that, because that is what people did.

And then there was that faithful night where Sasuke hadn't shown up all day and Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He had to know where the raven was, what was going on, if he was ever coming back. So he had snuck out of bed, desperately needing to get to a phone. Thankfully Sakura had been away from her desk, giving Naruto the opportunity to use her phone. To hear Sasuke's voice had been the best thing then and Naruto could feel himself crave the raven again, even if he wasn't doing so well and he shouldn't have been out of bed.

Then the memory came back on how many times Naruto had made Sasuke promise to never leave and how the raven always promised. And it scared him, it scared Naruto how attached he had gotten to Sasuke. The raven really could not leave him. Naruto would break again, shatter to pieces, and this time he was sure there was no recovery. That hole would be so deep that it would be impossible to climb out. He was too attached, maybe even too dependent on Sasuke.

But he didn't want out. Gaara had told him so many times already. That Sasuke is not good for you. How would his friend even know? Like he had ever met the guy before? Naruto had never seen Sasuke before all of this and he wasn't even aware of the fact that Gaara and Neji knew each other. They were from different environments. It was what made Naruto realise that Sasuke was quite wealthy. Neji came from a well-known family and Naruto knew they only hang out with others that were just as wealthy. But Gaara wasn't and still they were friends of some sort. Rumours were that Gaara was dating someone of the inner group of Neji, but Naruto wasn't told who exactly. Annoying, but before this they had also been focused on Naruto and his disease and after that there hadn't been any time to talk about it, especially not when Sasuke acted so moody.

Still it was strange that Gaara didn't want him to date Sasuke, when he was also getting involved with people like him. What was so wrong about Sasuke? His last name had sounded familiar, but even when he found out it was one of the big companies of the village it still didn't say much. And Gaara just didn't want to say why Naruto shouldn't be dating Sasuke. So in the end Naruto just didn't care about Gaara's opinion anymore. Especially not now he felt so much closer to Sasuke than to Gaara.

It was like Gaara was his brother, always had been. That is how they treated each other and that was why Gaara was so protective and felt the need to approve of who Naruto was dating. But Sasuke, Sasuke was his lover, his best friend, his everything. Just the thought of him alone made Naruto's heart race. Never did he want to be parted from the raven again. Naruto hadn't fought a lot in life, but for Sasuke he would. Just to keep him there. He just had to.

Blue eyes then locked with black and Naruto could see how his lips were still a thin line, showing of how agitated he still was. But those eyes were different. Whenever they looked at him it was as if something changed. They became warmer, inviting almost. He had seen the cold stare Sasuke gave others a lot, but whenever he looked at Naruto it was just not there.

But now those dark eyes also held some worry and Naruto cocked his head to the side in a curious manner. Was something wrong? Sasuke came closer and closer and suddenly there was a soft hand against his chin, tilting his head up and forcing Naruto to look up higher.

'Are you hurting?' Sasuke asked softly, his eyes now moving all over Naruto's body to check if something was amiss. 'You have been standing here for the past fifteen minutes.'

Naruto had not even noticed. He had been so deep in thought, just remembering things and realising things. 'I'm fine,' he murmured, leaning in Sasuke's touch. His arms went around Sasuke's back and he snuggled himself closer to the raven.

Confused now Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto and just hugged him back. Not like he would reject a hug from Naruto, but he was still a bit worried. Naruto never just randomly stood somewhere in the living room and stared in front of him for minutes long.

'You won't ever leave me, right Sasuke?'

'Of course not.'

And I hope you guys understood now that Gaara isn't really interested in Naruto! I don't like the other guy getting involved, but Sasuke just seem like the jealous type. So I promise no drama love triangle thing!


	19. Chapter 19

After Naruto's odd behaviour when they had returned from Gaara's house, they never talked about what had happened, but of course it was still bothering Sasuke. As he went to work again the next day and had to leave Naruto home alone again, it was all that was on his mind. Did Naruto even sense it? It didn't seem like Naruto was so dense, because he had always understood Sasuke's feelings, although he kept on asking, needing to be reassured. Even last night again Naruto had questioned him again, as if he was going to disappear, but hadn't Sasuke shown multiple times that he was staying.

But maybe it had been Gaara that confused Naruto nonetheless. Maybe he wasn't asking, because he wanted to be sure Sasuke stayed. Perhaps it was all about Naruto being unsure of his own feelings and hoping Sasuke would fall out of love as well.

Foolish things to be thinking when you just got out of work and are about to put your car on the drive way. Especially when you can't park your car, because another one is in the way. Who would Naruto even have over at this hour? Almost dinner time and the blonde was far too weak to actually do something exciting. And where the hell was Sasuke going to park his car now?

Having to walk a little to even get to his home, because the street was filled with cars, Sasuke opened the door and slammed it close, being in a pretty foul mood. This was not what he had expected to come home to and with the stress of thinking Naruto might leave him this really was not helping. What made it even worse was when he noticed whose car it had been that was parked in his space, which made him unable to secure his own close to home.

A bubbly laugh rose up out the living room and when he opened the door, he was met with the sight of his lovely boyfriend sitting next to the other love interest or at least that is how Sasuke saw him now. Naruto seemed to smile at first, until he noticed the glare Sasuke shot the two and how Gaara only blankly stared back, neither greeting each other.

How dare Naruto invite Gaara without saying something? And now that redhead gets to spend the entire day with his boyfriend while he is slaving away at his job, making money not just for himself, but also for Naruto. This is just utter bullshit and they definitely won't be greeted, but Sasuke was at least polite enough to not just burst and let out all his anger. He refrained from that and instead moved towards the kitchen, needing the distraction of making dinner to ease his mind.

In the middle of chopping vegetables Naruto stepped into the kitchen. Sasuke only heard the door open and felt how the blonde lingered there, not wanting to get closer. Understandable, Sasuke probably still radiated something unpleasant.

The shuffling of feet let Sasuke know that Naruto was nerves. At least the blonde understood it was strange to just come home to this and that he should've said something. The guy had a phone, so it wasn't that hard to send a text message, which he hadn't received all day. Of course Sasuke also hadn't sent anything, but sometimes it was nice to hear from someone else first and not always have to be the one to start a conversation. His hand on the blade tightened as he sliced an onion in pieces, his eyes prickling, but not yet tearing up.

'Gaara went home,' came the small sound of Naruto's voice, hoping this would comfort Sasuke somewhat, but the deed had already been done. Sasuke had come home to the sight of the two sitting next to each other, laughing together and relaxing in a way Sasuke didn't even have time to do right now.

His anger got the better of him and the knife sliced into his finger, blood welling up instantly. He pained groan left his lips, muttering 'shit' under his breath as he threw the knife down and moved towards the drawer that held bandages. Immediately Naruto was by his side and helped him, aided him, but as soon as the blonde held up the bandage to put over the wound, their eyes met for the first time that evening.

Sasuke's finger was between his lips, sucking on the cut to make it stop bleeding, but he couldn't move. Not when he saw the blue eyes dart down in guilt and it immediately made something else well up inside. Why did Naruto feel guilty? Had something else happened? Had Gaara finally been able to convince Naruto that they were a better pair, they were made for each other? That Gaara could love Naruto more than Sasuke ever did? Those would be all lies, but it would be the words of a manipulator. Words Sasuke was all too familiar with, convincing client after client what was best.

A shaky breath left his lips as he stepped away and let his finger leave his mouth. His eyes had darkened even more as he was now looking down at the floor, imagining what had happened with Gaara here. How their lips had met in a desperate attempt to show how they truly felt for one another. How hands had roamed over their bodies, feeling every curve and dip their body made.

Fisting his hand to his side, he made the cut bleed again, but he didn't care anymore. His teeth gnawed at his lip, trying to keep the words in, the accusations that were about to spill. He knew it wouldn't work and that it would only anger Naruto back or otherwise make him other the truth and say that indeed something had happened and then Sasuke would be all alone again. It couldn't happen. Finally Sasuke had been willing to give himself to someone completely, to feel this devoted, but it was like it was all slipping away from him, right through his fingers.

Suddenly Naruto was in front of him, grabbing his bleeding hand and closing a paper towel around it to stop it from losing even more blood. Silence lingered in the room as Sasuke studied Naruto's face through his bangs, hiding the emotions for Naruto to see.

'Why was he here?' he heard himself ask, an edginess lingering in it. And Naruto had heard it as well, flinching at the words and slowly looking back up, still clutching Sasuke's hand in his own.

'Gaara stopped by because I was bored and he wanted to hang out. He is my friend and he is entitled to,' Naruto replied plainly and dismissing the fact that this was even negotiable. It is what it is and Sasuke had to deal with it. And of course Sasuke knew they were friends, but he was also positive that Gaara was out for more and had talked badly of him while the redhead was here. Gaara had done it before and would do it many times again. Until Naruto was convinced that Sasuke was wrong, the bad guy and that Naruto should not love him.

The answer made Sasuke narrow his eyes though and yank his hand out of Naruto's grip, not wanting to be touched by him. 'And why wasn't I aware of this?' he questioned, almost gritting out the words.

And now defiance lit up Naruto's eyes, because of course he was also done with this behaviour. Again he had to listen to Gaara whine about Sasuke not being good enough and for the first time Gaara had actually explained why, but it hadn't mattered. Nothing Sasuke had done in the past mattered. But this fighting, this strange war those two were having, was annoying and Naruto didn't want to focus on it. There were more important things to think of. 'I just forgot to let you know, but I didn't think it was necessary since I live here as well. This is still our home, right?'

That question made Sasuke shiver. Our home… Somehow Sasuke still saw it as his home and Naruto had just moved in with him. But should he be seeing it as their home? And even if it was their home, wasn't it still common sense to let the other know someone was stopping by? Sasuke would let Naruto know if he was having someone over. Not that it happened very often. Family he rather saw at work and friends he didn't really have a lot of. Only Neji and the brunette never stopped by.

'I rather have you tell me when someone stops by,' especially if it's him, Sasuke added in his head, but Naruto could see it in his eyes already, finally looking up at Sasuke again. Naruto knew him too well, knew how to read his eyes. Strange how Naruto got to know them so well when it was his gaze that people often avoided, afraid of the darkness of it. An ex once said she had felt entrapped in them and Sasuke always wondered why when he had no interest in actually keeping her. She found out the hard way after only a week.

Naruto took a step back then and his eyes had turned a darker shade of blue, anger rising up as well. 'Gaara can come by when he feels like it and you can't say shit about that. He's my friend and I can see him whenever I want and he has been in my life far longer than you have, so you have no right to try and stop me from seeing him,' he accused and as soon as the words had left the plump lips, Naruto knew he had made a mistake. That last bit would hurt Sasuke and he had actually never witnessed Sasuke like that.

His heart beat was unsteady and Sasuke leaned heavily against the counter, fear rising up, but his face stayed blank. Naruto wouldn't see his emotions now. They would stay hidden behind a veil of black hair. 'Then why don't you go visit him then?' Sasuke asked, anger making his voice rise. 'Why don't you leave and go to him and see how much more he can love you.'

And then it went completely silent. Blue eyes had widened for a split second until they narrowed again. 'Love me more?!' Naruto called out. 'How can I even be sure you love me when I hear you have lied to so many before me? Maybe you're lying to me now and just keeping me here so you have yourself a fuck buddy.' Those words struck Sasuke like knives. Was that what Naruto really thought? That Sasuke had been lying since the beginning just to have sex with him? It sounded absurd and very unlikely, because who would go through such measures just to ensure you have someone to sleep with? 'So yeah, I think I'll go visit Gaara now and you don't have to wait up for me.' And with that said Naruto walked off and slammed the door from the kitchen closed, leaving Sasuke completely alone.

Of course Naruto hadn't believed Gaara's cruel words and he had seen how much Sasuke loved him, but it had been the moment he had caught himself in. Sasuke accusing Gaara from loving him more? What did that even mean? Was this all pure jealousy? And even if Gaara could possibly love him more than Sasuke did right now, then it didn't matter, because Naruto loved Sasuke and he was the only one.

But the words had been said and the door had been closed. It had taken the slamming of the front door to have Sasuke moving again and the only thing he did was continuing cooking, because his mind hadn't been ready for something else. Naruto was gone and who knew for how long it would be. Don't wait up for me was said, but did that mean that Naruto was coming back tomorrow?

You said you'd never leave me, both minds thought at the same time.


	20. Chapter 20

It had been weeks since Sasuke last saw Naruto. After that moment he had walked out, they hadn't gotten in contact again. Sasuke had tried after the first few days, but never did Naruto answer his phone. And at some point Sasuke just gave up and left the blonde alone. The strange thing was that all his stuff was still here. Not even Gaara had come to collect it. Which had been rather strange.

Every day Sasuke had expected to either find the house half empty or to see Gaara standing in front of the house, waiting on the raven to come back home. Every time he turned the corner as he drove home his heart beat faster and he swallowed roughly before he dared to look at the driveway, but it was always empty.

But the fact that Naruto's stuff remained in his home was what gave Sasuke hope that one day the blonde would return and they would be happy together again. Because Sasuke wasn't happy now. He needed Naruto more than he wanted to admit. Just his bubbly personality and the bright blue eyes he came home to. It was all that he needed to get through the day. But now work seemed more dull, food more tasteless and life just felt very empty. But he couldn't plead Naruto to come back, even if he desperately wanted to, because Naruto didn't pick up his damn phone when he called or texted him back. Eventually the wait was over and all Sasuke could do to remind himself was make use of the extra furniture still present in his house.

Like that damn orange bean bag that was sitting in his living room. It was still as ugly as when Sasuke ha first seen the thing. It was far too bright to fit in with his colourless furniture. Just too fluorescent. Sasuke was sure it lighted up when he turned off the lights, but no one believed him. He cursed the thing every time he laid eyes on it. Mostly because it reminded him so much of Naruto. Sasuke was pretty sure that Naruto also lighted up when he turned off the lights.

A few seconds later Sasuke actually found himself in that orange bean bag, sinking deeper and deeper into the soft balls forming to his figure and then it all settled down. He couldn't move, because it would make too much sound then and he also felt like he sat way too low. Was this supposed to be comfortable? Sasuke really did not understand why Naruto loved this thing so much. He preferred his couch with the soft cushions and its length to just lay down on it. This thing was just something to contain you, because getting out was even worse.

Then at the worst possible timing someone decided to ring his doorbell. Sasuke cursed that person behind his door. Didn't they know that it was Saturday afternoon and that normal people would sit in bean bags, reminiscing his times with Naruto and deciding that this thing should really be somewhere up in the attic. Not like anyone was going to stop him now.

But first he needed to get out of this bean bag and to the door. 'Be right there,' he called out, his voice a monotone. Sasuke was really not in the best mood to have people at his door right now. Well, he hadn't been in the mood for it ever since Naruto left, unless it was Naruto, which he doubted. Even Neji hadn't gone past the porch. Like Sasuke was even in the mood to party.

Pushing himself out of his current seat, he cursed the bean bag once more. It took him several tries before he was actually standing up and ready to walk to the door, if he hadn't been so exhausted at this point. That thing was certainly moving to the attic.

Apparently the person at the door got fed up of waiting and rang the doorbell again. Couldn't this person just leave? Oh, wait. Sasuke had actually said he was coming, so this person knew he was home. Sometimes he really was stupid! Especially when he found out who was even behind his door.

With an annoyed look on his face Sasuke threw open the door and was met with very soft green eyes and a head full of bright red hair. What the hell was this bastard doing here? Oh, picking up Naruto's stuff… At that point Sasuke's heart sank. That would be his last bit of hope. After this it would all be over. He wasn't sure how to greet Gaara at this point and just stared at the redhead. He didn't even try to hide his emotions anymore, running free all over his face. How could this be the end? Only because he was certain Gaara was in love with Naruto and that way he had driven his boyfriend right into the redhead's arms. It had been foolish.

'I won't stay long,' Gaara said in an even tone, also skipping the greeting part. 'But I came here to tell you something and give you something as well.' Those words surprised Sasuke and without even realising it he stepped out of the way and granted the redhead entrance to his home.

Green eyes moved through his house as if seeing it for the first time, judging the stuff Sasuke kept and called his own. Not that Sasuke owned anything special. It was all very modern and minimalistic, if you didn't count Naruto's stuff among it. He just didn't like filling up the place with useless furniture.

Gaara stopped walking as he entered the living room, his eyes moving over the bean bag for a moment before turning back around to face Sasuke. 'You know Naruto has been living with me.' Obviously he knew that… 'And I've tried my best to take care of him, but it's not helping. It seems that Naruto is quite miserable,' he stated. It felt strange how Gaara's voice was so emotionless. 'He's not progressing the way I would've liked and he actually hasn't left the couch except when he needs to use the bathroom. He barely eats and he has lost a lot of weight.' A soft sigh showed that Gaara was indeed upset about this, but didn't show it any other way. 'He even missed his appointment with Tsunade,' he ended as if that was the most important thing of all.

'Then why aren't you taking better care of him?' Sasuke spat. 'You finally got him away from me and now you can't even do this simple thing and make sure he actually stays healthy and freaking live.' He sneered as he quickly looked away, feeling the urge rising to punch the guy in the face. See if he can show of emotions then. 'So what the hell are you doing here now anyway? It's not like I can do anything about it.'

Green eyes studied his face and Gaara stayed silent for the longest time, as if he was searching for the words to reply to Sasuke. Or maybe he finally realised it was a dumb mistake to come here. Still it didn't make sense why he was here in the first place. 'I think you can,' Gaara then said softly, his eyes finally moving down to the floor and narrowing somewhat in sadness. 'It's true that I desperately wanted you out of his life, because I did not trust you. I know who you are and I know how you play people. You shared the bedroom with my sister once and she was devastated when you didn't call afterwards. I just thought you would do the same to Naruto and I care too much about him.'

Gaara's lips parted once more and then closed again, rethinking what he was about to say. 'Naruto is like my little brother. I have seen him go through the difficult times and I know how he reacted to it all. I thought being with you would give him the same reaction and his cancer was bad enough already. Every time I visited the hospital Naruto got very excited about how you would show up a few hours after. I made sure I was gone by then, because I didn't want to face the happiness I expected soon to be crushed. But now it seems that me crushing whatever you guys had made him actually fall back into his usual closed of ways. I think he needs you more than he needs me.'

Sasuke stayed silent for a moment longer and just stared at Gaara. That was a lot more explanation than he had ever gotten from the redhead or from Naruto himself. 'Sorry about your sister,' he murmured softly, feeling guilt tugging at his heart. He hadn't known that, of course he hadn't. But he should've known that his past ways would come back and bite him in the eyes. It wasn't so strange that Gaara didn't like him if his sister was really hurt.

But what Sasuke still bothered was that he had no idea what Naruto was bothering so much and he kind of wanted to know. Naruto hadn't really talked about his past. Only some major happenings and then mostly only the happy parts, so Sasuke didn't know Naruto was so miserable or had been so miserable before.

'It's alright. She has gotten over it and is happily married now, so no harm done,' Gaara replied, a slight smile gracing his features. It was almost unnoticeable. 'But I think it's time you come and claim your boyfriend back. It would be better for all of us, because my girlfriend isn't very happy to see the guy sitting on my couch every day and stinking up the place as she calls it.'

Girlfriend… Why didn't Sasuke know that? So Gaara did really feel like Naruto was his little brother that needed protection. Everything has just been a huge mistake and none of this would've happened if he had just asked. But Uchihas didn't like talking about their feelings. Hell, his brother was the perfect example of that. 'And how do you suggest I do that? Naruto hasn't tried contacting me ever since he left.'

Gaara's lips tightened and his eyes narrowed slightly as he glared at nothing in particular. 'Because he's damn stubborn and doesn't want to admit that he misses you.' The look vanished as soon as he had spoken the words and turned back to its emotionless state. 'But I have a plan. The hospital has sent me a card coming from a friend you both share. It's also addressed to you both, but I think they thought you were still together. Just read it and you'll know how to fix this or I'm assuming you can fill in the blanks after that.'

A envelop was then handed to him and Sasuke could see it was opened carefully, as if scared to rip it. The envelop itself was a soft white and the paper felt rather thick and expensive somehow. Slowly he pulled it out and his heart skipped a beat when he noticed what kind of card it was. He wasn't sure how to react to this, because he finally understood who this mutual friend was and what Gaara meant with a place to fix it.

Dark eyes moved up and noticed how Gaara had already walked back to the doorway. Their eyes met for a moment and even Gaara showed some true sadness now. 'I'm sorry for your loss,' he said softly and then left Sasuke's house, letting him deal with this all by himself.

_In loving memory of_  
Kiba Inuzuka  
May his heart rest in peace  
July 7 _th_ _1990 -  
November 10_ _th_ _2013_

_Funeral will be held at the…_


	21. Chapter 21

It was a nice day out. Not too cold, between the clouds you could sometimes catch a ray of sun and then the nice add of a breeze sweeping through the leafs on the trees, making them rustle and tremble, creating a nice tune to drown out some of the other sounds.

Sasuke rather listened to that then the soft gossiping voices that weren't here for the right reasons or the kids running around, not quite grasping what was going on. Then there were the tears that sometimes silently streamed over people's faces and sometimes went accompanied by a lot of noise. The one that got to Sasuke the most was the soft whine coming from the dog he once hated so much. He still didn't like Akamaru much, but this was heart breaking. Dogs shouldn't outlive their owners in Sasuke's opinion. It wasn't how this was supposed to go.

Dark eyes swept through the crowd once more, trying to avoid the casket as much as possible, and then his eyes found him. The familiar mop of bright blond hair, a bit too noticeable on such a grim occasion and still Sasuke welcomed it with open arms. That was the person that would get him through this day. Because he couldn't do this alone. Losing someone was too painful to begin with and it wouldn't be the first time that Sasuke found himself on a graveyard, ready to bury someone. Maybe he was a lot older now, but still it brought back memories he didn't really want to remember.

Today would not be about the past. Today would be about the present and Naruto's and his future. But how to start a conversation here? So many days had Sasuke tried to prepare for this, come up with a whole conversation they were supposed to have, but moment supreme it all felt a bit different. Words didn't seem right anymore, didn't hold the right meaning for what this all meant. But what was he supposed to say then?

Eventually the crowd was starting to quiet down and it seemed someone was going up to say some words about Kiba, the one this was all about. So Sasuke couldn't wait any longer under that tree, hiding from the one he needed to see the most. Naruto had not once glanced around to see if Sasuke was coming, so he was definitely not expected. Strange how they had drifted apart so much already that they wouldn't go to their friend's funeral together. Or both were perhaps too stubborn.

Pushing himself of the tree Sasuke slowly walked towards the tiny wooden white chairs, looking as uncomfortable as they were. Picking the right line he passed several people rather awkward and then finally came to the empty seat beside Naruto.

Still the blonde didn't look up or acknowledge Sasuke in any way. Fresh tear marks stained his face and his blue eyes seemed rather empty. His face was pale and his skin looked as this as paper. Gaara had not been lying when he said Naruto wasn't doing so well. Mostly he noticed when he reached for Naruto's hand, holding it tightly as the ceremony started, the thin fingers barely able to weave through his own. A soft squeeze to his hand let Sasuke know that Naruto knew he was here and had appreciated the gesture, even if it was only meant as a friendly one.

Sweet words were then spoken about Kiba, the family taking you on an adventure as they told stories about his life and how beautiful it had been. Often breaking bones, because he was never careful. Trying to ride his dog when he was only eight years old. How even after losing his father he stayed strong and made sure that his mother never felt alone. Even if Kiba had been a cocky, stubborn kid, he had one of the kindest souls out there, always taking care of others needs before his own.

And then as Kiba's mother broke down in tears, Sasuke slowly blinked them free as well, knowing that feeling all too well. Young kids weren't supposed to lose their parents, but parents should never outlive their kids. It was not how life was supposed to go. Kiba should've been here, telling all of them what bullshit this was and then proceed to try and hit on every girl that was not direct family. Maybe even pick out some guys that caught his attention. And Akamaru would happily join him, barking at the people that rejected Kiba and licking the hands of people that were nice.

Letting his eyes move away from the casket again, Sasuke stared off over the cemetery. All those headstones weathered away, forgotten, or adorned with flowers, still loved. How long had it been since he last visited their graves?

A soft squeeze pulled his attention back to Naruto and as he glanced over, their eyes met for the first time that day. The soft blue seemed more vibrant now, more alive, even when the rest of Naruto's face was so fragile. His lips parted to say something, but Naruto beat him to it, saying something very unexpected. 'When do you want to go?'

Sasuke's breath got caught in his throat. You could think this was about leaving the funeral early and just ditching this place, but he knew that wasn't what Naruto meant. Because the blonde apparently knew him better than Sasuke had expected. But when did he want to go? 'Tomorrow,' he answered softly, his eyes closing, letting out the last few tears in a steady flow. He needed to see them tomorrow and it would be easier this time, because Naruto would be there too.

Naruto responded with a not and let his eyes slide back to the front. Everyone had said something that had wanted to and now everyone could say their goodbyes before the casket was going to be lowered down into the grave. A line was already forming and seats were emptying quickly, but neither males were in a hurry to get up as well.

Their hands still linked they watched how person after person threw down a flower and whispered words to Kiba that were only meant for them to hear. At some point Naruto leaned his head against Sasuke's shoulder and they both sat in silence, watching how the line got smaller and smaller until almost everyone was gone. It was their time now, but still they both didn't feel like standing up. They hadn't seen their friend in such a long time and then they would see him in such a different way. But when only Kiba's mother and sister remained, it was time to say goodbye.

Sasuke stood first, slowly pulling along Naruto who was practically trembling on his legs. The blonde had lost a lot of weight again and definitely didn't look healthy. Sasuke had to support him as they walked or rather shuffled towards the casket. 'When we get home you're going to eat a lot of ramen and I don't want to hear any complaints,' Sasuke heard himself say and only then realised what that had meant.

Blue eyes shot up and they stared at each other for the longest moment. First a sliver of a smile formed on Naruto's lips until his face turned saddened. A frail hand reached up and cupped Sasuke's face, a thumb sliding over a pale cheek. 'As long as it's barbeque pork,' Naruto retorted, trying to joke about it, but failing with his expression.

It still meant so much and Sasuke just had to turn away, couldn't look at Naruto anymore as he tried to blink the fresh tears away. Naruto was coming home with him again. He wouldn't be alone in that too crowded house. Finally it wouldn't feel as empty anymore. Sasuke only replied with a nod, not trusting his voice at this point.

That was when they reached the casket and finally they could see Kiba resting peacefully. His eyes were closed and it almost seemed like there was a content smile on his lips, as if this had been the moment he had been waiting on. His skin had lost most of its tan, his disease making him paler and paler. His cheeks looked hollow. Almost everything about him was just too thin. This wasn't the Kiba they had known and yet it was. They could still see flashes of him in there.

Carefully Naruto released Sasuke's hand and stepped forward, taking his own private moment to say goodbye. Naruto's back shook for a moment as he released a sob and Sasuke had to supress the urge to go up to him and give him much needed comfort. This was something Naruto had to do alone, just like he would have to.

And all too soon it was Sasuke's turn. Naruto stepped out of the way, rubbing his sleeve over his eyes and looking off into the distance. Reluctantly Sasuke moved forward then, putting his hands over the edge of the dark wooden casket. First he just stared at Kiba, waiting for him to jump up and tell them all this was a joke. The cruellest joke Sasuke had ever heard of, but hey, Kiba just had a weird sense of humour, right?

Before Sasuke even realised it, he was crying again silently. The saying goodbye part was the hardest about this all. It made everything so final and irreversible. But it had to happen, because never being able to say goodbye eventually gets to you more. So he took a shaky breath, closing his eyes for a moment to collect himself and let the words form in his head.

'Thank you for everything, Kiba. If it hadn't been for you, Naruto and I wouldn't be together anymore.' They probably wouldn't have been together for a long time. Kiba had always seemed to be there whenever Sasuke needed the reassurance. 'And I promise I will never let him go again. Next time I won't need you.'

With one last pat on a too cold shoulder Sasuke stepped away from the casket and turned around towards Naruto, seeing how the blonde was slightly smiling and almost appeared happy. It made Sasuke's heart skip a beat and his eyes widen, because this was what he had missed so much. That look that told him how much Naruto truly loved him. Because he knew and had always known that. But at some point you just don't believe anyone can love you like that.

'Let's go home, Sasuke,' Naruto said softly, his hands reaching forward, asking for the raven to grab them. And of course Sasuke did, making Naruto smile even brighter. 'And never leave again.'

They didn't need to say more or talk things over. Or maybe they should have, but neither wanted to at this point. They just wanted to be happy and enjoy their moments together just this once. No more drama, no more pain. All they needed was the other and a comfortable house where they could crawl up against each other and just enjoy… life.

Hand in hand they left, one in a too big of a black tux, hanging around his thin frame, the other dressed to perfection. An odd pair to see maybe, but it didn't matter. Because their hands would be linked together forever, moving forward in the good time and the bad times, in sickness and in health.

" _Tears stream down your face  
When you lose something you can't replace_

_Tears stream down your face  
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes_

_And I will try to fix you"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and sweet comments I have received so far! I had uploaded this story on fanfiction already and I have loved this story a lot. Kind of different from what I usually do. So I hope you enjoyed and hopefully we'll see each other again!
> 
> On my fanfiction page under the name Dana-Eliza you can find more of my works and ideas and you can vote on my poll to have me start on a new SasuNaru fic I have planned :) Or another one of course ;)
> 
> Thank you all!


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